Proposed Canadian gas pipeline questioned
Tribe demands role in gas-pipeline talks
seattletimes.nwsource.com
By JEREMY HAINSWORTH
The Associated Press
VANCOUVER, B.C. — An aboriginal group is asking the Federal Court of Canada to temporarily halt an environmental review of a $6 billion natural-gas pipeline, which it says could affect its traditional way of life.
The Dene Tha, a First Nations tribe, has traditional territory spread across seven reserves in Alberta, British Columbia and the southern end of the Northwest Territories. They say the federal government has left them out of the MacKenzie Valley pipeline consultation process.
The pipeline would cross traditional lands of the 2,500-member Dene Tha nation.
It is a proposed 760-mile natural-gas pipeline through the Mackenzie Valley of Canada's Northwest Territories to connect a dozen potential northern onshore gas fields with North American markets by 2010. It would link with an existing pipeline in Alberta.
Four major companies — Imperial Oil, ConocoPhillips, Shell Canada and ExxonMobil — are partners in the project, along with the Aboriginal Pipeline Group, set up to represents First Nations' interests.
They believe up to 1.2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas could initially move through the pipeline, providing revenue for provinces and jobs for aboriginals.
In Vancouver, the Dene Tha's lawyer, Robert Janes, argued this week that Ottawa failed to meet its constitutional obligation by leaving the Dene Tha out of negotiations.
"There was no consultation with the Dene Tha with respect to this plan," Janes told Justice Michael Phelan.
An 1899 treaty handed ownership of Dene Tha lands to the government but created reserves for traditional livelihoods of hunting, fishing and trapping. Consultation on any changes to the land use is required under the treaty.
Dene Tha Chief James Ahnassay said Friday his nation fears the project would badly hurt traditional hunting grounds. Like other First Nations bands, he said, the Dene Tha should benefit from the pipeline to offset the losses to their traditional lifestyle.
"We should have full-blown participation," he said.
Phelan did not indicate when he might rule.
The hearing came as the federal Joint Review Panel on the project continues in Inuvik, in Canada's Northwest Territories. An expert on Alaska energy development told the panel that industrialization would inevitably creep through the Western Arctic if the Mackenzie Valley project goes ahead.
Gordon Morians said such activity has already damaged wildlife in the northern U.S.
"The pattern in development is so familiar and clear," said Morians. He said in Alaska, bowhead-whale migration patterns have shifted, caribou have been displaced from their calving grounds and migratory birds' nesting areas have been opened to predators.
But the U.S. demand for natural gas may outweigh the environmental concerns.
Greg Stringham, vice president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said Canada provides about 17 percent of the natural gas consumed in the United States.
"It's still a growing market, so the need for natural gas from all sources is still out there," he said.
Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company |
