The Vancouver Sun reports in its Thursday edition that the decision to overturn the environmental approval certificates for Northern Gateway's pipeline would kill the $7-billion proposal, a court heard Wednesday.
A Canadian Press dispatch to The Sun quotes Bernard Roth, Northern Gateway's legal counsel, as telling a Federal Appeal Court panel in Vancouver: "If you quash the certificates the music stops. We can't file anything more with the (National Energy Board). We can't continue with our project."
A collection of first nations, environmental groups and a union have mounted a legal challenge over what they claim is a federal review panel's failure to address the project's environmental impact and to seek aboriginal consent.
The 1,200-kilometre twin pipeline would transport diluted bitumen from Alberta's oil sands to a terminal on the B.C. north coast for overseas shipping.
A negative court decision risks putting a chill on large-scale infrastructure investment, said Mr. Roth.
"We're at the stage in this country where you're not going to see a lot of these applications filed again if you see this court turning things around after people have literally invested half a billion dollars and growing."
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