VANCOUVER/UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (MUSQUEAM), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (SQUAMISH), AND səlilwətaɬ (TSLEIL-WAUTUTH) TERRITORIES — Yesterday, the B.C. Supreme Court dismissed a case brought by the Kispiox Band, Kispiox Valley Community Centre Association, and Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition challenging the start of construction of a section of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline without a complete, up-to-date understanding of its impacts on community health, safety, ecosystems, and livelihoods.
These groups represent some of the frontline communities and interests that will be directly impacted by the PRGT pipeline, which will stretch up to 900 km across northern B.C and will supply fracked gas to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal on the west coast for export overseas. They argued that the requirement of the B.C. Energy Regulator to complete a cumulative effects assessment of the project, a key permit condition imposed by the Regulator itself, was not met before construction on a pipeline section started in August 2024.
The groups were concerned about the cumulative effects of the project, meaning the total additive impacts of the PRGT pipeline and other industrial development across the landscape. Rather than assess cumulative effects of the whole project, the Regulator only considered the impacts of construction of one section of the pipeline and the views of people living beside that one section. The groups argued that assessing the impacts of pipeline sections in isolation was the opposite of a cumulative effects assessment.
The Court concluded that the groups could not challenge the Regulator’s decision to focus its assessment on one section of the pipeline, in part because they did not live along that section.
The groups have 30 days to decide whether to appeal the Court’s decision.
Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition’s Co-Executive Director, Shannon McPhail said: “This pipeline goes right through our communities and the B.C. Energy Regulator continues to change — and seemingly ignore — their own permit conditions to ensure this pipeline is built regardless of reasonable, yet unanswered, concerns of stakeholders and residents. We had a question for the courts about whether or not the Regulator adhered to its own permit conditions and B.C. legislation — that question remains unanswered as the judge determined that we did not have standing to even pose the question. This should be a wake-up call for all British Columbians that our energy regulator is not looking after the public interest.”
Kispiox Valley Community Centre Association’s Graeme Pole said: “The B.C. Energy Regulator did not undertake a cumulative effects assessment that was ‘cumulative’ in any sense of the word. It relied on an assessment from 2014 and considered only effects in the Nass River valley. Many things have changed since 2014 that are relevant to the construction and proposed operation of PRGT. The B.C. Energy Regulator indicates that it does not understand or account for the social and environmental risks as they exist today, and it is extremely disappointing that the Supreme Court of British Columbia has supported that flawed and incomplete appraisal of the project.”
Ecojustice lawyer, Matt Hulse said: “We’re disappointed that the Court determined that no one other than the project proponents could challenge the Regulator’s decision to allow construction on this project to start for the first time. Impacts from the construction of a pipeline are not experienced section by section – the impacts from one section combine with the impacts of others. Capturing the combined effects is the purpose of a cumulative effects assessment. Our clients will be impacted by the combined effects of pipeline construction upstream and downstream of them. That is why they brought this case, and it’s disappointing that the Court did not recognize this.”
Ecojustice and the groups who brought this case remain committed to defending the rights of the environment and frontline communities in the fight for a climate-safe future.
About
The Kispiox Band is a First Nation band based in the Kispiox Village, originally known as Anspayaxw. It is one of six ancient Gitxsan communities that exist within the territory of the Gitxsan Nation, in what is now known as northwestern B.C. The Kispiox Band has 1555 members, and the elected Band Council is responsible for the administration and band services, the well-being of the band members, and matters affecting the Kispiox Village. The PRGT pipeline will pass less than 15 km from the Kispiox Village and crosses the Skeena River and its tributaries, from which the village draws its drinking water.
The Kispiox Valley Community Centre Association represents about 200 people, most of whom reside in the Kispiox Valley north of Anspayaxw (Kispiox) Village. In 2014, the Kispiox Valley Community Centre Association issued the Kispiox Valley Declaration, which states that residents, “cannot stand by and let any industrial presence, including oil and gas development, that would threaten or harm our values and responsibilities…” The PRGT pipeline would travel through the Kispiox Valley.
Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition works to cultivate a sustainable future from a sustainable environment rooted in our culture and a thriving wild salmon ecosystem in the Skeena watershed. The Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition was founded over twenty years ago by a diverse group of people living and working in the Skeena River watershed. The PRGT pipeline would travel through the Skeena Watershed.
Ecojustice uses the power of the law to defend nature, combat climate change and fight for a healthy environment. Its strategic, public interest lawsuits and advocacy lead to precedent-setting court decisions, law and policy that deliver lasting solutions to Canada’s most urgent environmental problems. As Canada’s largest environmental law charity, Ecojustice operates offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Halifax.
