The National Energy Board's Joint Review Panel into the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline won't be coming back to Prince George to hear final arguments.
In a written notice posted on the panel's website on Tuesday, it announced the final oral arguments will be heard in Terrace beginning June 17.
The final argument phase will give Northern Gateway and interveners in the process a chance to convince the three-member panel to either approve the project to connect Alberta's oilsands with Kitimat via a pipeline or deny approval of the $6.5 billion project.
Groups wishing to participate will first make their argument in writing to the panel by May 31 and then will have the chance to respond orally in Terrace, a process which is expected to take two weeks. Only those parties that provide a written final argument will be allowed to give an oral response.
Northern Gateway will provide its argument first in response to the written arguments filed by those opposed to the project. That will be followed by the interveners and government participants, in alphabetical order, responding to the written evidence of groups who hold opposing views to their own. Finally, in reverse alphabetical order, each group will be able to briefly reply to any arguments other parties raised in their oral arguments. Northern Gateway will be given the final chance to respond.
Interveners and government participants will each have one hour to give their oral arguments, while Northern Gateway has been allotted two hours.
The panel is expected to provide its recommendation to the federal cabinet by the end of 2013.
