More local reaction to the Energy East pipeline proposal being terminated

North Bay Mayor Al McDonald says the city was very consistent on its views of the Energy East proposal, which was cancelled by TransCanada yesterday (Thursday).

He says he wasn’t for it, or against it.

His concern was that North Bay’s drinking water source, Trout Lake, be kept safe for residents.

“The fact that they’ve cancelled the Energy East project is neither here nor there for us. We were more concerned about the protection of the water,” he says.

McDonald says it’s the city’s responsibility to protect the source of North Bay’s drinking water and they did that throughout the process.

“We were just concerned that the conversion of the natural gas pipeline ran through the watershed that leads into Trout Lake and it’s our responsibility and duty to do everything we can to protect the source of our drinking water,” he adds.

Northwatch is calling it a good day.

This after TransCanada announced they’ve terminated their Energy East pipeline proposal.

There has been local support and opposition to the plan.

Northwatch’s Brennain Lloyd says the termination of the project is good news.

“It’s good news for northern Ontario, in terms of the environmental risk that we now won’t have subjected to us as a result of Energy East,” she says.

However, she says we do still face a risk from the transportation of oil through all methods.

“Really what we need to do is be moving off of a fossil based economy, moving towards local, decentralized, renewable energy sources,” she says.

Until that happens, Lloyd says there’s needs to be improved safety requirements for the transportation of any type of hazardous good.

“While we do have oil moving by train, there will be risk,” she says, adding there’s also a risk with the transportation of sulphuric acid to and from the mines, plus there’s the potential for nuclear waste being transported some years down the line.

The Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities has a different view to the termination of the project, saying the north won’t be seeing the expected economic benefits.

That’s the word from FONOM President Al Spacek.

“This is similar on scale to the day that Minister Rick Bartolucci announced shutting down Ontario Northland,” he says.

While the Northlander ceased operations in 2012, the province has since scrubbed the divestiture of the ONTC and kept most business units public.

Spacek says with Energy East, the north would’ve seen 45 new pumping stations alone, pointing out tens of billions of dollars were going to put into the project.

He also says the environment is going to be impacted.

“We’re going to continue to move that product by rail and truck, which statistically is much more dangerous and has much more potential negative impact for the environment,” he says.

Spacek says says with 200 municipalities supporting the pipeline proposal, “certainly we all can’t be wrong.”

In a release, TransCanada officials said after careful review of changed circumstances, they will be informing the National Energy Board that they are no longer be proceeding with the applications for Energy East Pipeline and Eastern Mainland Pipeline projects.

TransCanada says they’re thankful for the support of labour, business and manufacturing organizations, industry, various governments and municipalities and more.