Pacific Northwest LNG Review a 'Failure of Process': Fisheries Biologist Michael Price

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In an open letter to Catherine McKenna, Canadaโ€™s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, a group of scientists publicly challenged the integrity of an environmental assessment reviewing the impacts of a major liquefied natural gas export terminal on the west coast of British Columbia.
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The Pacific Northwest LNG plant, a controversial $11.4-billion export terminal, is proposed for Lelu Island near Prince Rupert. The terminal is slated to be built next to Flora Bank, a unique eelgrass rich intertidal zone scientists have termed a salmon superhighway.
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According to salmon ecologist Michael Price with SkeenaWild Conservation Trust, and signatory of the open letter, the environmental assessment of the project represents a โ€œfailure of process.โ€
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โ€œThereโ€™s certainly a frustration with [the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency]. We feel CEAA has not incorporated the best availableย science.โ€

Price said CEAA asked both Fisheries and Oceans Canada as well as Natural Resources Canada to provide comment on the Pacific Northwest project.
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โ€œBut what they were asked by CEAA to comment on was a very narrow aspect of the project and had nothing to do with other available science.โ€
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Price pointed out the work of Dr. Patrick McLaren which found the construction of the LNG terminal on Lelu Island would likely cause a mass erosion event at Flora Bank, dismantling the eelgrass beds critical for salmon.
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โ€œMcLaren has good evidence that by building this structure youโ€™re going to destabilize Flora Bank,โ€ Price said, โ€œbut the proponent brings in their own 3-D model saying, โ€˜well, actually, there will be no negative effects.โ€™โ€
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โ€œFisheries and Oceans Canada as well as Natural Resources Canada were asked to review only the proponentโ€™s evidence and was not tasked with reviewing any other lines of evidence, even those that are peer reviewed.โ€
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โ€œItโ€™s a failure of the precautionary principle,โ€ Price said, adding itโ€™s also a โ€œfailure of process.โ€
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Price said that in a review of CEAAโ€™s mandate it was unclear if a broad spectrum of science had to be considered when performing an environmentalย assessment.

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โ€œI donโ€™t see any concrete language that CEAA โ€” in the process of assessing risk โ€” that they need to incorporate best available science,โ€ Price said.
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โ€œSo we could be talking about a process limitation where CEAA 2012 falls short. There could be a loophole where CEAA 2012 isnโ€™t mandated to consider science beyond that provided by the proponent.โ€
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โ€œIs CEAA being negligent? Maybe theyโ€™re just following their mandate,โ€ he said.
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He added that under current Fisheries Act rules, the proponent is also legally allowed to destroy salmon habitat as long as a mitigation plan is put in place that results in โ€œno net loss of habitat.โ€
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โ€œIf youโ€™re going to destroy 27 square metres of salmon habitat you can simply promise to recreate 27 square metres of that lost habitat somewhere else,โ€ he said.
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โ€œVery few of these mitigation projects actually equate to the same productivity of natural habitat. Actually creating eelgrass habitat is extremely difficult. We have a hard time as humans to recreate what Mother Nature has created.โ€
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Price added that from a scientific perspective the ecosystem under threat is not easily replaceable.
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โ€œWhat is at stake is at the moment a fairly pristine, highly productive nursery ground for salmon and other fishes.โ€
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โ€œMore migrating juvenile salmon have been found here than in any other habitat surveyed throughout the Skeena estuary,โ€ Price said. โ€œItโ€™s a pristine and highly productive natural environment that will be altered significantly. The proponent is quite clear theyโ€™re project will have this effect but, they say, they will mitigate.โ€
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And technically, Price said, โ€œtheyโ€™re following the rules because there will be no โ€˜net lossโ€™ of habitat.โ€
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He added that the specific mitigation plan to replace the lost habitat hasnโ€™t been made available for the project.
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โ€œThey canโ€™t tell us what their mitigation plan is because they havenโ€™t developed it yet, but they tell CEAA they are going to recreate the habitat and CEAA says, โ€˜okay.โ€™โ€
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The public comment period on the draft environmental review ends tonight at midnight.
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โ€œTheoretically not only can CEAA consider new lines of evidence put forward but that is what they are supposed to do, incorporate comments or information put forward that is relevant.โ€

Image: Tavish Campbellย 

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