A federal review of Pacific NorthWest LNG has been halted a third time as the company has been told to provide more information on its effects on a sensitive salmon-rearing habitat.
The consortium, led by Malaysian state-controlled Petronas, was asked in February to provide three-dimensional modelling data demonstrating the effects of sediment and changed water currents from the project on Flora Bank.
The bank in the Skeena River estuary contains eelgrass beds critical for juvenile-salmon rearing.
In a written statement, Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency spokeswoman Karen Fish said Monday the company was told last week more 3-D modelling information is needed.
She said the company must also provide information on the effects on aboriginal fisheries for traditional purposes, the effects on marine mammals and the effects of dredged material disposal.
The halt in the federal review of the $36-billion project could further delay any go-ahead by the company, which has said a positive federal review is necessary to make a final investment decision. The review was also halted in the February request for information.
The company is also facing opposition from the Lax Kw’alaams First Nations, which rejected a $1.15-billion benefits package from the province and the Petronas-led consortium over concerns about the project’s negative effects on Flora Bank.
The project touches one side of the bank just off Lelu Island adjacent to Port Edward in northwestern B.C.
The company had initially said it would make a decision by the end of last year, but then said a decision may come by June, the same time the review was initially expected to be complete.
Pacific NorthWest LNG officials had little to say about the latest development in the federal review.
“Pacific NorthWest LNG will continue to work constructively and diligently with the regulator, area First Nations and other stakeholders to answer outstanding questions regarding our environmental impact statement,” company spokesman Spencer Sproule said in a written statement.
The federal review was also halted last year after First Nations, federal agencies and the public raised concerns about a jetty that would be built over Flora Bank.
Concerns had also been raised about dredging and depositing material in the vicinity of the salmon-rearing area.
In response to the concerns, the company filed new plans to build a 1.6-kilometre suspension bridge over the Flora Bank and move the berth for the LNG carriers farther from Lelu Island so that no dredging would be required.
In rejecting the $1.15-billion benefits package, the Lax Kw’alaams noted that a 1973 report from federal scientists had noted the Flora Bank as prime salmon-rearing habitat that should be protected.
In a written statement it issued following the rejection, the Lax Kw’alaams said it was open to LNG development but not close to Flora Bank.
The Kitselas and Metlakatla First Nations have signed impact and benefit agreements with Pacific NorthWest LNG.
