TransCanada not proceeding with eastern based projects
By Kate Ayers
Staff Reporter
The Energy East pipeline and Eastern Mainline proposals for a near coast-to-coast oil transporting pipeline have come to a squealing halt as TransCanada announced it is not going forward with the project applications.
The National Energy Board and Quebec officials will be notified of the project terminations, said Russ Girling, TransCanada’s CEO and president, in a statement in an online CBC news article.
“We appreciate and are thankful for the support of labour, business and manufacturing organizations, industry, our customers, Irving Oil, various governments, and the approximately 200 municipalities who passed resolutions in favour of the projects,” Girling said in a company release today.
The Energy East pipeline would have added 1,500 kilometres to an existing 3,000 kilometres of pipeline converted from carrying natural gas, to carrying oil, the article stated. The pipeline would have carried oil from the prairies to be refined in New Brunswick.
There are mixed feelings on the company’s decision to abandon the projects.
New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant is disappointed as the projects would have created jobs in the province and boosted Canada’s economy, according to the article. On the other hand, Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre is pleased to see the projects cancelled.
TransCanada says it wants to “carefully review” new changes to the regulatory and approval process for the project as well as the viability of the pipeline, according to a Radio Canada International article online.
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