District of Fort St. James Mayor Rob MacDougall painted the proposed Northern Gateway project as a threat to his community in a written final argument to the National Energy Board's Joint Review Panel.
The community is located close to the planned route for the 1,178-kilometre pipeline from northern Alberta to Kitimat and council passed a resolution last year expressing its opposition to the project. In his final argument, MacDougall said there's a large segment of residents who feel the risk of a spill and the effects that could have on Stuart Lake leaves too much to chance.
"We are not the 'radical environmentalists' or advocacy groups that Northern Gateway opposition have been painted as in the media," MacDougall wrote. "A strong majority of people in our community are loggers, miners, carpenters, welders and machinists; we are industry workers who live in a resource-based local economy through which we have learned the value of sustainable industry practices."
The fallout from a 2010 spill on an Enbridge-owned pipeline in Michigan was central to MacDougall's argument. He thanked Enbridge for their presentations to council on the issue, but feared that if a similar incident occurred close to Fort St. James, it could be devastating for the future of the town of 1,700.
"We want to ensure that our homes, livelihoods, and the landscape we live from and appreciate are available to our future generations to ensure also that there is a future for our community to continue to thrive and flourish," MacDougall wrote.
Fort St. James is an exception as most municipal councils in B.C. and Alberta either didn't take a formal position on the project or didn't participate directly in the environmental assessment process.
The City of Prince George and the Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako were among a handful of communities to file for intervener status, but who declined to submit evidence, comments or arguments.
The only other municipal government to submit a final argument before Friday's deadline was Strathcona County, located to the east of Edmonton and near the eastern terminus of the proposed pipeline. It cited the economic benefits of the pipeline to its community as well as Canada generally as reasons the project should be approved.
With a large oil and gas industry within its borders, Strathcona County said it's in a good position to be able to vouch for Enbridge as a good corporate citizen and reliable pipeline operator.
"Strathcona County has every confidence, based on its long history and excellent relationship with Enbridge, including its recent experience, that this project will be constructed, operated and maintained in a safe and responsible manner and that Strathcona County and the surrounding area will reap even greater social and economic benefits which will be shared with Alberta and Canada," the county wrote.
Final oral arguments will take place in Terrace beginning on June 17 and then the Joint Review Panel will begin preparing its final report, which is due by the end of the year. That report will include a recommendation to the federal cabinet on whether or not the pipeline should be granted a certificate to continue development.
