TransCanada gas pipeline may sidestep environmental review, Federal environmental assessment not guaranteed on B.C. pipeline with 320 water crossing

TransCanada gas pipeline may sidestep environmental review, Federal environmental assessment not guaranteed on B.C. pipeline with
320 water crossing by Larry Pynn, November 26, 2012, Vancouver Sun
TransCanada’s planned 650-kilometre natural gas pipeline to Kitimat would cross about 320 watercourses including the habitat of more than 100 species at risk, such as white sturgeon, woodland caribou and marbled murrelet, company documents show. But under Conservative government changes to environmental laws, there’s no guarantee the Coastal GasLink project will undergo a federal environmental assessment. “It’s a travesty of the public trust,” said Otto Langer, retired head of habitat assessment and planning for the federal fisheries department in B.C. and Yukon. “If we can’t have an environmental review on a project of this sort, this is proof we have gutted Canada’s environmental protection.”
…
Langer dismissed the notion of a provincial assessment because the B.C. government is “giving the green light everywhere” to projects and that its environmental review process is too soft on industry. “It’s pretty sad,” he said. “I don’t know how we slipped down this slope so quickly … and I don’t know where it will all end.”
…
TransCanada documents outlining the pipeline project say it would cross four major drainages — the Peace, Fraser, Skeena and Kitimat rivers. … More than 20 species of fish, including all five Pacific salmon species
and steelhead, could be affected.
…
Langer said that despite reduced federal environmental protection, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency has the nerve to boast of “Canada’s strong environmental laws, rigorous enforcement and followup, and increased fines” on its website. Concluded Langer: “It makes me want to puke.” Craig Orr, executive director of Watershed Watch, said he is “astounded that there is even a thought of exempting something of such magnitude, with such potential risk. … “These are major changes that, if not stopped now, will ripple out across communities everywhere in Canada — putting our water, air, food and quality of life at risk,” [Emphasis added]