The B.C. Oil and Gas Commission (OGC) was “unreasonable” and “intransigent” in its dealings with the Fort Nelson First Nation as the regulator considered and eventually approved a 39-kilometre natural gas pipeline in endangered boreal caribou habitat, according to the B.C. Supreme Court.
The natural gas pipeline, proposed by Calgary-based Rockyview Resources, would have run through Fort Nelson First Nation territory, resulting in 78 hectares of disturbance to caribou habitat. Fort Nelson First Nation is located in the Horn River Basin unconventional gas play, which makes it a fracking hot spot.
In a recent ruling, the court (Read more…) the Oil and Gas Commission refused to discuss issues related to the pipeline and its impacts on the Maxhamish caribou range. Caribou are provincially and federally recognized as a species at risk and 84 per cent of boreal caribou habitat in B.C. falls within Fort Nelson First Nation territory.