A chronology of milestones for the Northern Gateway pipeline project
A chronology of Northern Gateway milestones:
May 27, 2010 — Enbridge files an application to the National Energy Board to build the Northern Gateway pipeline and tanker terminal. The plan first surfaced several years earlier but was shelved as other projects took priority. By 2008, Enbridge began pursuing the proposal in earnest and preparing for the application.
Aug. 10, 2010 — A joint Canadian Environmental Assessment and National Energy Board review panel holds its first panel session for the public, to discuss issues, the information provided by the company in its application and locations for the future oral hearings.
Sept. 9, 2010 — The panel determines the company has submitted enough information for the project to proceed to public hearings.
Jan. 10, 2012 — The review panel begins public hearings that will travel throughout B.C. and Alberta.
March 2012 — Federal government announces changes to Navigable Waters Act and the rules governing the environmental review process for major projects.
May 2012 — Enbridge is ridiculed for a sleek promotional video that portrays the Douglas Channel into Kitimat minus the hundreds of islands that will lie in the path of project tankers on their way to port.
July 11, 2012 — U.S. National Transportation Safety Board releases damning report on a July 2010 spill from an Enbridge pipeline into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan.
July 27, 2012 — B.C. Premier Christy Clark announces at a premiers' conference that B.C. will not be part of any discussions about a national energy policy until the province gets its "fair share" of revenues from the Northern Gateway project.
Aug. 17, 2012 — Media mogul David Black announces plans to pursue an oil refinery in Kitimat.
Sept. 26, 2012 — A coalition of conservation groups files suit in Federal Court to try and force Ottawa to protect endangered and threatened species along the route of the proposed pipeline.
Oct. 22, 2012 — A protest against the project draws thousands of people to the B.C. legislature.
Dec. 12, 2012 — UBC Fisheries Centre report says financial costs of a worst-case scenario tanker spill off the north coast of British Columbia could outweigh the economic rewards of the pipeline.
Jan. 14, 2013 — Thousands gather to protest the pipeline on the first day of community hearings held in Vancouver. Five protesters are arrested the next day for disrupting the high-security hearings.
March 18, 2013 — Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver announces changes to marine safety rules for oil tankers.
March 19, 2013 — Oliver announces he's appointed Vancouver lawyer Doug Eyford as a special representative on West Coast energy infrastructure, to report to government on aboriginal relations.
April 12, 2013 — The joint review panel releases a list of 199 conditions the company would have to meet should the project receive approval, including $1 billion in liability coverage to cover the cost of a spill.
May 31, 2013 — B.C. government lawyers tell the federal review panel that the province does not support the pipeline project as proposed.
June 24, 2013 — Final arguments are complete. The panel begins its deliberations.
June 26, 2013 — Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver announces that pipeline companies will have to have $1 billion in liability coverage to cover the cost of a spill on land.
Oct. 29, 2013 — After a five-year delay, the federal government publishes a final recovery strategy for humpback whales off the West Coast that recognizes shipping traffic and toxic spills as threats to critical habitat.
Nov. 5, 2013 — The B.C. government capitulates on revenue-sharing, saying a share of Alberta's revenues from heavy oil pipelines is off the negotiating table.
Dec. 5, 2013 — Doug Eyford issues report saying Ottawa must build trust with First Nations.
Dec. 19, 2013 — The federal panel reviewing the Northern Gateway pipeline releases its report.
