The Canadian Press
Published Friday, Aug. 3, 2012 1:24PM EDT
Last Updated Friday, Aug. 3, 2012 1:56PM EDT
OTTAWA -- The federal government says an environmental assessment and report on the controversial Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project across British Columbia and Alberta must be completed by the end of next year.
In a letter to the joint review panel examining the $6-billion proposal, Environment Minister Peter Kent and National Energy Board chairman Gaetan Caron set a deadline of Dec. 31, 2013 for the report.
The new deadline, announced Friday, is required to comply with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the Harper government's omnibus budget legislation passed earlier this year.
The legislation included numerous bills that the Conservatives wanted to pass after winning their first majority in the May 2011 federal election, including measures they say will speed regulatory reviews and cut overlapping efforts.
The joint review panel has been holding public hearings on the project that would deliver crude from Alberta's oilsands to tankers in Kitimat, B.C., for shipment to Asia.
Aboriginal groups, environmentalists and others have voiced concern over what a spill from the pipeline, or from a tanker on the West Coast, could do to the environment.
In a statement Friday, Enbridge president Al Monaco defended the company's safety record.
Monaco said the company (TSX:ENB) invested about $400 million last year alone in the safety of its vast pipeline network and has doubled the number of staff dedicated to leak detection and pipeline control systems over the last two years.
"This is not new, but rather part of an ongoing effort to be the best in the business," Monaco said.
Calgary-based Enbridge has faced scrutiny and criticism in recent days following a spill last week from its Line 14 pipeline running through Grand Marsh, Wisc., dumped roughly 1,200 barrels oil into a field that is part of the pipeline right-of-way.
The company was also rapped by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board in its report into a 2010 spill into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan.
The U.S. report prompted the National Energy Board in Canada to announce it will increase safety audits on the company's Canadian operations in the coming months.
Last month, the B.C. government said it could only support the pipeline project if it met five criteria, including a greater portion of the economic benefits and assurances that the "best" responses will be available for potential spills.
