This was one of a series of high-profile fossil-fuel projects proposed in Washington state in recent years, all of which have faced strong opposition from environmentalists. By Hal Bernton, Seattle Times staff reporter | Originally published February 27, 2018 at 2:09 pm | Updated February 28, 2018 at 10:04 am Vancouver Energy is ending a four-year quest to
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Canada’s new environmental review plan gets lukewarm reception, Science
By Lesley Evans Ogden • Feb. 9, 2018, 5:25 PM Scientists, industry officials, and environmentalists are giving mixed reception to a new plan to revamp how the Canadian government assesses the environmental impacts of development projects. The plan, released yesterday after 14 months of deliberation, delivers on an election promise made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party
MORE »Trudeau government poised to overhaul environmental assessment process on energy projects like pipelines, CBC
Legislation this week expected to mean changes to National Energy Board Elizabeth Thompson • CBC News • Posted: Feb 05, 2018 4:00 AM ET The Trudeau government is poised to introduce legislation this week to overhaul the way the federal government does environmental assessments on major energy projects like pipelines. Environment Minister Catherine McKenna is to table a bill
MORE »Washington governor rejects permit for oil-by-rail terminal, Seattle Times ($)
Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement Monday that he agreed with the recommendation of a state energy panel, which voted in November to deny the application of the Vancouver Energy project. By Phuong Le, The Associated Press • Originally published January 29, 2018 at 9:41 am | Updated January 29, 2018 at 4:29 pm SEATTLE
MORE »PennEast gas pipeline gets FERC approval, Oil & Gas Journal
PennEast Pipeline has received US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission construction approval 3 years after filing with agency. The roughly 120-mile natural gas pipeline begins in the Marcellus Shale near Dallas, Pa., and connects with Williams Co.’s Transco Pipeline near Pennington, NJ. OGJ editors • Jan 22nd, 2018 PennEast Pipeline has received US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
MORE »EFSEC unanimous in vote against Port of Vancouver oil terminal, The Columbian
By Dameon Pesanti, Columbian staff writer OLYMPIA — The plan to build the largest rail-to-marine oil terminal in the United States suffered a major blow Tuesday at the hands of the state body tasked with its evaluation. Barely five minutes into a special meeting at the state Capitol, the Washington State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council
MORE »Vancouver oil terminal report details unavoidable impacts, Portland Business Journal
By Pete Danko – Staff Reporter, Portland Business Journal The developer and opponents offered diametrically differing views of a final environmental review of the proposed Vancouver Energy oil terminal, released Tuesday, a week ahead of a long-awaited recommendation on the controversial project from Washington’s Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council. In a presentation in Olympia, EFSEC staff said a Final Environmental Impact
MORE »Judge allows Dakota Access pipeline to keep running, MPR News
The Associated Press • Bismarck, N.D. October 11, 2017 6:53 p.m. A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the Dakota Access oil pipeline can continue operating while a study is completed to assess its environmental impact on an American Indian tribe. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s decision will come as a blow to the Standing Rock
MORE »Permits invalidated for big Washington state methanol plant, Financial Post ($)
The Associated Press • Sep 19, 2017 SEATTLE — U.S. environmental groups opposed to the Pacific Northwest becoming an international fossil fuels gateway scored a major victory when a Washington state board invalidated two permits for a $2 billion project to manufacture methanol from natural gas and export it to China. Last week’s decision by
MORE »Board hits brakes on $1.8 billion methanol plant planned for Kalama, Seattle Times ($)
The state Shoreline Hearings Board found fault with permits for the planned $1.8 billion methanol plant and called for more analysis of greenhouse-gas emissions. By Hal Bernton, Seattle Times staff reporter • Originally published September 19, 2017 at 6:00 am | Updated September 19, 2017 at 7:03 am A state hearings board has found flaws in an
MORE »Trudeau Liberals propose sweeping reforms to Harper-era environmental laws, National Observer ($)
By Mike De Souza | News, Energy, Politics | June 29th 2017 The Trudeau government has proposed sweeping amendments to Canada’s environmental laws to reverse a series of “very controversial” changes implemented by the former Harper administration in 2012. The proposals — packaged in a colourful 24-page document sprinkled with photographs of nature, graphics and other images — moves the federal government one step
MORE »Ottawa proposes new rules for resource companies, Globe and Mail ($)
Shawn McCarthy, Global Energy Reporter • Ottawa • Published June 29, 2017 The Liberal government is proposing new rules that would require resource companies to consult with Ottawa and Indigenous communities on major projects well before the firms finalize their plans and apply for regulatory approval. The companies would also be expected to provide greater
MORE »The Standing Rock Sioux Claim ‘Victory and Vindication’ in Court. The Atlantic ($)
A federal judge rules that the Dakota Access pipeline did not receive an adequate environmental vetting. Robinson Meyer A federal judge ruled in favor of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on Wednesday, handing the tribe its first legal victory in its year-long battle against the Dakota Access pipeline. James Boasberg, who sits on D.C. district
MORE »Donald Trump and the Order of the Pipelines, The Atlantic ($)
Legal experts aren’t sure the president can succeed in his attempt to revive Dakota Access and Keystone XL. Robinson Meyer WASHINGTON, D.C.—Environmental advocates suspected it was coming, but few thought it would happen this quickly. On Tuesday, President Donald Trump ordered the re-authorization and rapid completion of the Dakota Access and the Keystone XL pipelines,
MORE »Trump Revives Keystone Pipeline Rejected by Obama, New York Times ($)
By Peter Baker and Coral Davenport • Jan. 24, 2017 WASHINGTON — President Trump sharply changed the federal government’s approach to the environment on Tuesday as he cleared the way for two major oil pipelines that had been blocked, and set in motion a plan to curb regulations that slow other building projects. In his latest moves to dismantle the
MORE »Protesters Gain Victory in Fight Over Dakota Access Oil Pipeline, New York Times ($)
By Jack Healy and Nicholas Fandos CANNON BALL, N.D. — The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe won a major victory on Sunday in its battle to block an oil pipeline being built near its reservation when the Department of the Army announced that it would not allow the pipeline to be drilled under a dammed section of the Missouri
MORE »Even as Trudeau Reaches Out to First Nations, Mercury Rises, New York Times ($)
OpinionOP-ED CONTRIBUTOR Stephen Marche · New York Times · Nov. 27, 2016 Billy Gauthier, an Inuk artist who lives in Labrador on Canada’s remote northeastern coast, began his hunger strike on Oct. 13 after a plate of salmon. The meal was highly symbolic. The Nunatsiavut government in Labrador had released a study from a Harvard mercury researcher on the effects
MORE »How Benicia Valero Crude By Rail was Defeated, Benicia Independent
Three (or 10 or 12, or maybe 40?) factors… What happened in Benicia was amazing. It’s well worth our time as community activists and organizers to reflect a bit on how David went up against Goliath and won. I was there from the beginning in this Benicia episode, so I have a story to tell.
MORE »Canada’s Big Dams Produce Clean Energy, and High Levels of Mercury, New York Times ($)
By Ian Austen • Nov. 10, 2016 OTTAWA — Protests. Hunger strikes. Sit-ins that disrupt construction. At the immense Muskrat Falls hydroelectric dam project in a remote and rugged part of Labrador, the indigenous people who live nearby have been raising louder and louder alarms. But it is not about the dam itself. The controversy is
MORE »How Dams Risk Poisoning Indigenous Diets, The Atlantic ($)
A new hydroelectric facility in Canada could push dangerous amounts of methylmercury into communities that rely on seafood. Joshua Sokol · November 9, 2016 On October 13, Billy Gauthier, an Inuk sculptor in Labrador, Canada, uploaded a picture of what he called his “last meal” to Facebook. It showed the split head and tail of a smoked
MORE »Indigenous leaders tell Muskrat Falls protesters to ‘go home’, Globe and Mail ($)
The Canadian Press • Published: October 26, 2016ST. JOHN’S, N.L. Indigenous leaders and the Newfoundland and Labrador government are telling protesters at the site of the Muskrat Falls hydro project they can “go home.” The leaders emerged from a marathon meeting with Premier Dwight Ball early Wednesday touting significant progress made to address environmental concerns with the
MORE »Scientists back Inuit in efforts to limit mercury poisoning risk from Muskrat Falls hydro project, CBC
Agreement between N.L. and Inuit leaders a victory for ‘evidence-based decision-making,’ geographer says Sheena Goodyear · CBC News · Posted: Oct 26, 2016 4:56 PM ET | Last Updated: October 26, 2016 An almost two-week occupation at the site of a multibillon-dollar hydroelectric project in Labrador is winding down after Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Dwight Ball vowed to make all future
MORE »Methylmercury levels expected to rise at Muskrat Falls reservoir: Nalcor, Globe and Mail ($)
The Canadian Press · Published: October 19, 2016ST. JOHN’S, N.L. Methylmercury levels are expected to rise in the reservoir created by construction of the Muskrat Falls hydroelectric project in Labrador, officials with Nalcor Energy confirmed Wednesday, saying local residents can eventually expect an advisory warning them to limit their consumption of fish. The prediction came
MORE »Inuk artist on hunger strike to push for clearing of Muskrat Falls reservoir, CBC
‘Without Lake Melville, my family couldn’t have survived in this area,’ says Billy Gauthier CBC News · Posted: Oct 14, 2016 12:47 PM NT | Last Updated: October 14, 2016 An Inuk artist from Labrador says he’s going on a hunger strike until Nalcor commits to fully clearing the Muskrat Falls reservoir. Billy Gauthier ate what he
MORE »N.L. promises to re-examine Muskrat Falls reservoir clearing as Indigenous groups push for change, CBC
Muskrat Falls will ‘lose everything’ if initial flooding doesn’t proceed as planned: Environment Minister Bailey White · CBC News · Posted: Oct 04, 2016 8:28 AM NT | Last Updated: October 4, 2016 After months of protest from Inuit and other Indigenous groups over Muskrat Falls flooding — including a demonstration this past Monday at the construction site — the province’s minister of environment
MORE »Council denies Valero Crude-By Rail Project, Benicia Herald
By Donna Beth Weilenman • Martinez News Gazette Benicia City Council has unanimously denied a use permit for the controversial Valero Crude-By-Rail project, citing a federal board decision as well as a June 3 derailment that spilled 42,000 gallons of crude oil and caused a fire that burned 14 hours.But the matter didn’t end Tuesday
MORE »Benicia: Valero crude oil-by-rail facility rejected by City Council, Mercury News
BENICIA — Environmentalists hoping to defeat Benicia’s crude-by-rail project scored a huge victory Tuesday night, handing Valero Refining Company a significant defeat in the process. In a unanimous decision from Mayor Elizabeth Patterson and the City Council, Valero’s application for a conditional use permit for a crude oil off-loading facility was denied. Vicki Dennis, who moved to
MORE »Benicia nixes Valero plan to run crude oil trains through Sacramento, Davis, Roseville, The Sacramento Bee ($)
By Tony Bizjak | UPDATED SEPTEMBER 21, 2016 3:28 PM The Benicia City Council on Tuesday unanimously rejected a controversial plan by the Valero Refining Co. to ship crude oil aboard trains through Sacramento and other Northern California cities to its bayside refinery. The 5-0 vote, taken after four years of bitter debate, represents a
MORE »Gambling with House Money, Earthjustice Blog
Go inside the trial of Tesoro-Savage, a crude oil shipping terminal proposed for the banks of the Columbia River. By Kristen Boyles & Janette Brimmer | Northwest Office When is a proposed project too risky, too much of a roll of the dice? Put another way, how much risk should communities and the environment be expected to bear
MORE »Pacific Northwest Weighs Response to Risks Posed by Oil Trains, New York Times ($)
By Kirk Johnson | July 31, 2016 MOSIER, Ore. — The Chinook salmon that Randy Settler and other Yakama tribal fishermen are pulling from the Columbia River are large and plentiful this summer, part of one of the biggest spawning runs since the 1960s. It is a sign, they say, of the river’s revitalization, through pollution
MORE »EFSEC hearings: Oil terminal opponents have their turn, The Columbian
Merits, risks continue to be weighed at adjudication hearings for Vancouver Energy proposal. By Brooks Johnson, Columbian Business Reporter | Published: July 16, 2016, 5:22pm The bells rang on the first round of oil terminal hearings this week as opponents started calling witnesses in the trial-like process guiding the fate of the Tesoro Corp. and Savage Cos. proposal.
MORE »Liberals kick off widespread review of how natural resource development projects are approved, CBC
2 expert panels and 2 parliamentary committees to review laws and assessment processes Peter Zimonjic • CBC News • Posted: Jun 20, 2016 3:56 PM EDT | Last Updated: June 20, 2016 The Trudeau government has begun a review of the processes and methods it uses to decide which natural resource development projects will be approved or rejected. The
MORE »PennEast Pipeline In A Tailspin Of Delay And Uncertainty As Opposition By Legislators, Regulators, And The Public Grows, Cision PR Newswire
Multiple Gas Pipelines in the U.S. Halted as Difficulties Abound for Beleaguered Fossil Fuel Projects News Provided by ReThink Energy NJ • Jun 09, 2016, 12:40 ET STOCKTON, N.J., June 9, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — According to ReThink Energy NJ, PennEast’s proposed pipeline project in NJ and PA is considerably delayed in gaining necessary approvals from the Federal Energy Regulatory
MORE »California Attorney General Kamala Harris challenges Benicia oil plan, The Sacramento Bee ($)
By Tony Bizjak, April 14, 2016 4:29 PM • Updated April 15, 2016 7:21 AM California Attorney General Kamala Harris weighed in on Benicia’s ongoing oil train debate on Thursday, arguing that the city has a legal right to reject a local refinery’s oil train plan and the obligation to review environmental risks. The debate involves
MORE »California planners reject Valero oil-by-rail project, Reuters
By Kristen Hays HOUSTON (Reuters) – Valero Energy Corp’s proposed oil-by-rail project at its northern California refinery was quashed by local planners this week, the first such facility on the U.S. West Coast to end a years-long wait for permits with a rejection. The Benicia Planning Commission late Thursday unanimously renounced Valero’s request to build the
MORE »South Dakota: Keystone XL Pipeline Permit Renewed, New York Times ($)
By The Associated Press • Jan. 5, 2016 State regulators on Tuesday again approved the section of the Keystone XL oil pipeline that would go through South Dakota, despite the project’s stalled status at the federal level. The Public Utilities Commission’s decision also hinges on a requirement that TransCanada Corporation receive a presidential permit for the
MORE »Reversal of Enbridge’s Line 9B to begin this month, CBC
Pipeline set to bring Western oil to Montreal refineries finally after string of delays CBC News • Posted: Nov 30, 2015 7:41 PM ET | Last Updated: December 1, 2015 Starting this month, the flow of the pipeline will be reversed to bring 300,000 barrels of oil a day from Alberta’s oil sands to Montreal’s refineries.
MORE »Citing Climate Change, Obama Rejects Construction of Keystone XL Oil Pipeline, New York Times ($)
By Coral Davenport • Nov. 6, 2015 WASHINGTON — President Obama announced on Friday that he had rejected the request from a Canadian company to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline, ending a seven-year review that had become a symbol of the debate over his climate policies. Mr. Obama’s denial of the proposed 1,179-mile pipeline, which
MORE »Obama rejects Keystone XL, National Observer ($)
By Charles Mandel | News, US News | November 6th 2015 After seven years of acrimonious court battles, profligate spending and hardball political lobbying, the Keystone XL pipeline is dead. U.S. President Barack Obama rejected the proposal, as most suspected he would. “Several years ago, the State Department began a review process for the proposed construction of a pipeline that would
MORE »Barack Obama rejects Keystone XL pipeline citing ‘national interest’, CBC
U.S. president says Canadian PM Justin Trudeau expressed ‘disappointment’ pipeline won’t proceed The Associated Press • Posted: Nov 06, 2015 11:14 AM ET | Last Updated: November 6, 2015 The Obama administration has rejected TransCanada’s application to build the Keystone XL pipeline, capping a seven-year saga that became an environmental flashpoint in both Canada and the U.S.
MORE »PennEast Pipeline Job Creation Claims Significantly Overstated, Study Finds, Rethink Energy NJ
ReThink Energy NJ says renewable energy will create more jobs than fossil fuels Posted November 4, 2015 TRENTON, NJ, (November 4, 2015) – A study commissioned by New Jersey Conservation Foundation of the economic impact analysis contained in the proposal to construct the PennEast gas pipeline in New Jersey and Pennsylvania concludes that the number of jobs claimed to
MORE »PennEast foes say pipeline jobs numbers are bloated, nj.com
By Keith Brown | For NJ.com • Updated: Nov. 04, 2015, 8:01 p.m. | Published: Nov. 04, 2015, 7:01 p.m. PennEast has overestimated by two-thirds the number of jobs it would create to build its proposed 118-mile natural gas pipeline, according to a new study commissioned by pipeline opponents. The New Jersey Conservation Foundation, a vocal opponent of the proposed
MORE »Approval of Enbridge’s Line 9 applauded by Quebec refineries, Globe and Mail ($)
Kelly Cryderman • Calgary • Published October 1, 2015 The owners of the two Quebec refineries readying for shipments of Western Canadian crude say the National Energy Board’s decision to approve Enbridge Inc.’s Line 9 project will provide a long-awaited boost to their bottom lines. “It’s a project that we’ve been waiting for,” said Julie
MORE »Benicia plans more study of crude-oil train impacts, The Sacramento Bee ($)
A controversial proposal by the Valero Refining Company in Benicia to run two 50-car crude-oil trains a day through Sacramento and other Northern California cities to its bayside refinery has hit another slowdown. Benicia officials on Tuesday said they have decided to redo some sections of an environmental impact analysis of the project. The city
MORE »Race to Build on River Could Block Pacific Oil Route, New York Times ($)
By Kirk Johnson VANCOUVER, Wash. — Environmental passions, which run hot in the Northwest over everything from salmon to recycling, generally get couched in the negative: Don’t fish too much, don’t put those chemicals up the smokestack, don’t build in that sensitive area. But here in southern Washington, some environmental groups are quietly pushing a builder
MORE »Native Americans, Landowners Protest Keystone XL Pipeline In South Dakota, NPR, Heard on All Things Considered
The U.S. Senate failed to approve the Keystone XL pipeline but the issue appears headed for a green light in the GOP-controlled Congress next year. Heard on All Things Considered • November 21, 2014 4:22 PM ET Transcript ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: While the lame-duck Senate failed to approve the Keystone XL pipeline this week, Republicans vow
MORE »Kinder Morgan pipeline benefits for B.C. ‘substantially overstated’: report, BIV
Kinder Morgan has “substantially overstated” the benefits to be gained from the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, according to a report released Monday (November 10) calling into question figures used by the oil company to promote the project. By Tyler Orton • November 10, 2014, 11:20am Kinder Morgan has “substantially overstated” the benefits to be gained
MORE »Trans Mountain expansion would be of far less benefit to B.C. than Kinder Morgan says: report, Financial Post ($)
A new report says Kinder Morgan is overplaying the economic benefits, and downplaying the costs of its proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion The Canadian Press • Published Nov 10, 2014 CALGARY — A new report says Kinder Morgan is overplaying the economic benefits, and downplaying the costs of its proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Simon
MORE »Study questions benefits of Kinder Morgan’s pipeline expansion, CTV News
Lauren Krugel • The Canadian Press • Published Monday, November 10, 2014 11:36AM PST | Last Updated Monday, November 10, 2014 12:10PM PST CALGARY — A new report says Kinder Morgan is overplaying the economic benefits, and downplaying the costs of its proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Public Policy Research
MORE »Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline benefits questioned, CBC News
Simon Fraser University study claims company overstates employment, downplays costs The Canadian Press • Posted: Nov 10, 2014 10:27 AM MT | Last Updated: November 10, 2014 A new report says Kinder Morgan is overplaying the economic benefits, and downplaying the costs of its proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Public Policy Research teamed with
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