"We have made it clear . . . that the project should be rejected, but obviously the panel has recommended something different," said Chantal Gagnon of the Ecology Action Centre in Halifax.
Environment Minister Mark Parent must consider some "crucial comments by the panel in the report that was released last week . . . especially the comments regarding the sustainability of the project and the greenhouse gas emissions," Ms. Gagnon said.
Mr. Parent now has less than three weeks to make up his mind whether to approve the report, reject it or approve it with conditions. The panel members said Mr. Parent has a tough judgment to make because the project represents a "scale and type of development which would be unique in Nova Scotia" and has the potential of benefiting but also hurting the rural area.
"While some impacts would be positive (employment and investment), other impacts to the environment and on the rural surroundings and way of life would be negative. . . . The panel recognizes that a final decision will present significant challenges to the Nova Scotia (environment minister) in balancing economic development with the need to ensure environmental sustainability."
In the 184-page report, the proponent fails to answer direct inquiries by Health Canada and Environment Canada with regard to volatile organic compounds, greenhouse gas emissions, on-site incineration emissions and other related air pollution, Ms. Gagnon said.
"When it comes to the long-term impact of this project, on health, on the economy, on the environment, on social issues, the burden will be on the public’s wallet," she said.
Besides awaiting the minister’s decision, the Keltic Petrochemicals project, which also includes developing a plastics plant, is still far from being a done deal. The company’s partner, Maple LNG, a consortium of 4Gas of Rotterdam and Russia’s Suntera, is to operate the gas terminal but still lacks a supply of liquefied gas.
The panel held six days of public hearings in November and received thousands of pages of evidence. While the project has received support from the community, there has been opposition from environmental groups and local lobster fishermen who are concerned about the massive tankers harming the lucrative fishery.
The project is to build five storage tanks with a gross capacity that would allow one billion cubic feet of gas to be sent out every day. The plant would create an expected 500 full-time positions and 3,000 construction jobs and would be operating by 2010.
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