Despite eight months of testimony by hundreds of witnesses and thousands of pages of transcripts, there are still unanswered questions surrounding the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.
The questioning phase of the National Energy Board's environmental review, which started in Edmonton in September and came to Prince George last fall, wrapped up in Prince Rupert on Wednesday.
"It's been a very lengthy process, it's been very time consuming," Tim Leadem, a lawyer for Ecojustice who took part in the proceedings, said. "But I think certainly from the evidentiary perspective there's a lot of useful information that was gathered through the technical hearings."
Despite the extensive record, Leadem said there are some holes in the evidence currently in front of the three-member Joint Review Panel (JRP). One of the more contentious debates that came up time and again during the proceedings was how diluted bitumen or other products shipped through the pipeline would react in the event of a spill.
"One of the crucial issues that surfaced in the Prince Rupert hearings on the marine environment was whether the product that would be shipped in the tankers would sink or float," Leadem said. "There are so many variables that no one can say for sure if there's an oil spill whether the product contained in the tankers will sink or float. That means we're not in a position to be able to estimate the risks."
Enbridge vice-president for western access Janet Holder agreed that some aspects involving the properties of diluted bitumen have yet to be resolved, but she said the company behind the $6.5 billion project to connect Alberta's oilsands with an export terminal in Kitimat is committed to further study.
"I think if they haven't been resolved, there are efforts underway either to resolve them or there will be conditions that will address the issues and ensure that they are resolved in a satisfactory way for the JRP as well as ourselves," she said.
Overall, Holder said although the questioning phase was long, it did give an opportunity for a wide variety of intervener groups to ask questions of Northern Gateway.
"I can't imagine that there are any questions out there that have not been asked and answered," she said. "It is what we would want to see in a hearing of this magnitude and this importance."
The JRP has already laid out a set of possible conditions it could place on Northern Gateway if the pipeline is eventually granted a certificate to proceed. Among the 199 draft conditions are a host that deal with requirements for further study.
Rather than wait until after Northern Gateway is given the green light to continue with its project, Leadem said the questions should be answered and the studies conducted now.
"The basic way in which our positions differ is that Northern Gateway says, 'give us the certification and the studies will come later,'" Leadem said. "We think that the studies should come first and then you can have a full environmental assessment.'"
Holder said since the JRP members themselves were able to ask questions of witnesses during the process, she feels the decision makers have enough evidence in front of them to make an informed recommendation.
"Where they thought information that they needed that we didn't have yet to prepare a decision, they made sure they asked those questions," she said.
With the questioning done, proponents and opponents of the project will now shift to preparing their final arguments. The parties will summarize their evidence in written form over the next few weeks and provide their opinion to the JRP whether or not the project should proceed and what conditions should be attached if approval is granted.
"People will be stating their positions and using the evidence to support that," Holder said. "Some will be in support, some will be in opposition, but there will be less emotion because it should be supported by the evidence."
The written arguments are due May 31 and will be followed by oral arguments in Terrace in June, where Leadem said all sides will be able to provide brief rebuttals.
The JRP will offer its final report in December and the federal cabinet is expected to make a decision in early 2014.
