The Conservation Council of New Brunswick appeared in several media outlets following the deadline for groups and individuals to apply to participate in the National Energy Board’s review of the proposed Energy East oil pipeline.
Our Executive Director Lois Corbett and Fundy Baykeeper Matt Abbott appeared in a March 4 article in the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal. Read the article here.
It noted more than 1,500 groups and individuals across the country, including roughly 160 from New Brunswick, applied to participate in the review. Those from the province include the Conservation Council, the Union of New Brunswick Municipalities, the Fundy North Fishermen’s Association, the Wolastoq Grand Council, and more.
Corbett spoke on the importance of involving scientists who can offer expertise on a number of aspects surrounding the pipeline proposal.
“There are already quite a few holes in the information the board has received – it’s not translated, it neglects to address upstream climate pollution, and we have yet to discover where the second export terminal will be,” Corbett said. “We need to have scientists with expertise in a range of fields – from oil spill impacts in rivers to how increased tanker traffic will affect the endangered whales in the Bay of Fundy.”
Abbott commented on the strength of CCNB’s application, adding our work would centre around the impacts of the pipeline on freshwater fish habitats and freshwater in general, as well as the effect of shipping large quantities of bitumen through the Bay of Fundy.
Our Freshwater Protection Program Coordinator, Stephanie Merrill, was heard on CBC News Radio throughout the province and was quoted in an article posted online March 4.
“It’s extremely important that we have New Brunswick voices in the form of landowners and directly affected people, but also in the form of professional organizations and folks who can speak on behalf of the broadest of environmental issues in New Brunswick, like our waters and the Bay of Fundy,” Merrill said.
“The main concern is how the [proposed] project contributes to increasing our dependency on fossil fuel infrastructure, especially given how New Brunswick is really falling short in our climate greenhouse gas reduction targets and that we have to do some big actions to be able to meet those commitments — and that certainly doesn’t include increasing our dependency and building brand new fossil fuel infrastructure,” she said.
The Conservation Council’s bid for intervenor status was also mentioned in a report from Global News that aired March 5.
A March 5 article in the New Brunswick-Telegraph Journal noted the Citizen’s Coalition for Clean Air in Saint John has applied for intevenor status and funding, which it would use to hire CCNB’s Science Advisor Inka Milewski to study the proposed pipeline project’s impact on human health.