B.C. court hears challenge to Nisgaa-led natural gas pipeline [Video]

A court hearing is underway in Vancouver in a battle over a natural gas pipeline in Northern British Columbia.

The 800-kilometre Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline will run from northeastern B.C. to a floating liquified natural gas terminal on Nisga’a land on Pearse Island.

The project is owned by the Nisga’a Nation and Texas-based Western LNG, and would move between 2 billion and 3.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

But a coalition of community groups and the Kispiox First Nation are challenging the project in court, arguing the B.C. Energy Regulator allowed construction on a small section of the pipeline without first conducting a legally required assessment of the project’s full impact.

“We got tired of them sidestepping and bending the rules that don’t seem to protect the residents, so we are here today to stand up for our communities and we just want to hold them accountable,” said Shannon McPhail, with the Skeena Watershed Conservation …