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Ontario
Victory

Challenging TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline

September 9, 2016

TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline would have seen millions of litres of toxic diluted bitumen pumped under major waterways from the Prairies to the Atlantic coast. It would have passed directly through hundreds of communities, like Kenora, ON, putting their drinking water, land, and local ecosystems at risk from spills.

Ecojustice represented grassroots community group, Transition Initiative Kenora on this file. What began as an effort to show the risks this pipeline would bring to just one small community became a chance to counter bias at the National Energy Board (NEB) and ultimately play a role in toppling Canada’s largest ever pipeline proposal.

Timeline of our efforts:

    • In August 2016, the National Observer reported that two members of the Energy East review panel met privately and discussed Energy East with interested stakeholders, including Jean Charest who was then a consultant for TransCanada.
    • We successfully filed a motion for our client, Transition Initiative Kenora, shortly after urging the compromised National Energy Board (NEB) panel members to recuse themselves from the Energy East review.
    • The panel members stepped down but in their wake they left the process in disarray — their recusals meant the review was tainted by a reasonable apprehension of bias.
    • To ensure that the review process would be fair and impartial, we successfully filed another motion once new panel members were appointed demanding that the NEB declare the dozens of decisions made by the former Energy East panel void.
    • With the reset button hit on Energy East’s review process, the new panel invited submissions on whether to consider Energy East’s potential to cause huge increases in upstream and downstream GHG emissions in its upcoming hearing on the project. We argued yes, and the new panel agreed!
    • In early October 2017, TransCanada announced it will be cancelling the Energy East pipeline project.

A leak of diluted bitumen or other crude oil products from TransCanada’s decades-old pipeline would have been disastrous to any community that was along the project’s path, including Kenora. A spill could have polluted their drinking water, degraded their environment, and impacted their livelihoods.

We also support efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across Canada and believe that it is important to be involved in cases related to projects that will accelerate demand for tar sands development.

 

What does this victory mean?

What the fall of the Energy East pipeline tells us is that these fossil fuel mega-projects are less economically viable and will only become a tougher sell as the world keeps moving toward low-carbon energy.

Ecojustice staff

Dyna Tuytel

 

Clients/Partners

Transition Initiative Kenora

Oct 2017
A large red banner with white letters reading
blog

Last of its kind: The demise of the Energy East pipeline

TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline hit the wall last week.
Oct 2017
A still lake reflects trees on a shoreline and a soft pink sunset.
press release

STATEMENT: TransCanada scraps Energy East pipeline project, Ecojustice and Transition Initiative Kenora react

TORONTO — Ecojustice lawyer, Charles Hatt and Transition Initiative Kenora executive director, Teika Newton made the following statement in response to TransCanada’s decision to cancel the Energy East pipeline project: Charles Hatt, Ecojustice lawyer said: “We are overjoyed by TransCanada’s decision to scrap the Energy East pipeline project.
Aug 2017
Bill C-9 environmental assessment
press release

Statement: NEB to consider emissions and climate change in Energy East review, Ecojustice and Transition Initiative Kenora react

TORONTO — Ecojustice lawyer, Charles Hatt and Transition Initiative Kenora executive director, Teika Newton made the following statement in response to the National Energy Board’s decision to consider climate change, including upstream and downstream GHG emissions, in its review of the Energy East pipeline: Charles Hatt, Ecojustice lawyer said: “This decision culminates years of work.
Jun 2017
A still lake reflects trees on a shoreline and a soft pink sunset.
blog

Energy East pipeline review may look at broader climate impacts

Including upstream and downstream GHG emissions would be a good start, but can’t stop there The National Energy Board’s review of TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline has had more than a few hiccups along the way.
Feb 2017
Still water reflects a rocky cliff covered in evergreen trees.
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In pipelines we trust?

In relationships, trust is king.
Jan 2017
Still water reflects a rocky cliff covered in evergreen trees.
blog

We did it! NEB hits reset button on Energy East pipeline hearing

Good news always feels better on a Friday.
Jan 2017
Energy east pipeline protest Photo 2 by Council of Canadians
press release

Statement: NEB hits reset button on Energy East hearing, Ecojustice and Transition Initiative Kenora react

TORONTO — Ecojustice lawyer, Charles Hatt and Transition Initiative Kenora executive director, Teika Newton made the following statement in response to the new National Energy Board panel granting their motion to declare all previous Board decisions void: Charles Hatt, Ecojustice lawyer said: “We believe the Board made the right decision, indeed the only decision allowed.
Sep 2016
Still water reflects a rocky cliff covered in evergreen trees.
press release

NEB must start Energy East pipeline review from scratch

TORONTO – The National Energy Board (NEB) cannot simply press pause on its review of TransCanada’s Energy East pipeline the process needs to start over from scratch for it to be credible and fair, group says.
Sep 2016
Still water reflects a rocky cliff covered in evergreen trees.
press release

NEB members recuse themselves from Energy East review, Ecojustice and Transition Initiative Kenora react

TORONTO — Ecojustice lawyer, Charles Hatt, and Transition Initiative Kenora executive director, Teika Newton made the following statement in response to the recusal of the entire National Energy Board review panel and the Board’s Chair and Vice-Chair in respect to the Energy East pipeline project: Charles Hatt, Ecojustice lawyer said: “We are pleased that all.
Aug 2016
Still water reflects a rocky cliff covered in evergreen trees.
blog

We’re gearing up to fight the Energy East pipeline

We are representing community group, Transition Initiative Kenora, in their fight to stop the Energy East pipeline.
Aug 2016
Photo of the three Energy East Panel members who stepped down today (L-R: Roland George, Lyne Mercier, and Jacques Gauthier), via Government of Canada.
press release

Group asks compromised Board members to step down from NEB panel reviewing Energy East

National Energy Board (NEB) panel members must recuse themselves to ensure Energy East pipeline review is impartial, group says.
Feb 2016
A large pipe is placed in the dirt on a flat field. In the distance, a gathering of people stand next to an oil pump.
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Liberals’ interim pipeline measures fall short

Band-aid solutions cannot fix deeply flawed pipeline reviews, environmental assessments The Harper government’s 2012 environmental law rollbacks were a blunt-force trauma to the environmental assessment of pipelines.