Mackenzie panel urged to slow review

A group of non-governmental organizations wants to stop an environmental and socio-economic review of the proposed Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline until the Mackenzie Delta gas owners provide more information on the project’s impact.

In a letter to the Joint Review Panel, the organizations said the review should be sidelined until the producers respond to a request for more information than was contained in their major regulatory filing last October.

The producers led by Imperial Oil have indicated they will deliver the information before the end of March.

In the meantime, the NGOs, indicating they are already overwhelmed by the volume of material, say they are concerned that the review panel is rushing the review process unnecessarily.

The organizations include Ecology North, the Status of Women Council for the Northwest Territories and the Northwest Territories Literacy Council.

Ecology North has strongly advocated that the Northwest Territories should end its reliance on fossil-fuel based energy and move towards renewable energy such as wind, solar and run-of-river hydro electricity.

The Status of Women, an advisory body to the Northwest Territories government, has also put a special focus on resource development projects.

—Gary Park