The panelists assigned to review the largest pipeline proposal in Canadian history were appointed to the NEB last month, and hail from Ontario and Quebec.
The scientists say at least 10 of 15 identified impacts from oilsands expansion on oceans are “certain” to happen from new coastal development, ocean shipping, climate change and the risk of spills.
The new members were not specifically named to the Energy East review panel by Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr because it’s up to the acting chair of the National Energy Board to assign duties.
"We stand at the dawn of the clean growth century," said Canada's Environment Minister Catherine McKenna. President-elect Donald Trump is poised to take the U.S. in the opposite direction.
A Calgary-based employee of Irving Oil, a major player in the proposed Energy East pipeline project, sent an email invitation directly to Steven Kelly, an NEB member who also faced controversy.
The National Energy Board's chief executive gave staff a list of seven instructions after private meetings with former Quebec premier Jean Charest and others.
Canada is still thirsty for new pipelines to the coast despite renewed prospects for Keystone XL, explained Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr on Tuesday.
The panel is to report to Carr by March 31 — not by the Jan. 1 deadline initially announced by the government back in June when it made public the draft mandate for the NEB review.
Quebecers have overwhelmingly lost confidence in the National Energy Board and want pipeline hearings stopped until Canada’s environmental laws have been reformed, according to a new poll.