The federal government has quashed a proposal to build a natural gas liquefaction project in Quebec’s Saguenay region over concerns it would have a “significant” negative impact on marine mammals and for First Nations communities in the area.
The final decision on the Énergie Saguenay Project from the federal Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC) comes after Quebec also rejected the proposal from GNL Quebec Inc. last year.
The company wanted to build a facility to liquify natural gas and build an export terminal in the La Baie district near the Port of Saguenay. The facility would have had the capacity to produce 10.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas per year.
However, the project did not pass the assessment of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, so the federal government did not grant authorization for it to proceed.
"The Government of Canada prides itself on making decisions based on the best available data. Decisions must also balance both economic and environmental considerations, and respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples," said Steven Guilbeault, Canada's Minister of Environment and Climate Change.
"The Énergie Saguenay Project underwent a rigorous review that clearly demonstrates that the negative effects the project would have on the environment are in no way justifiable," he said.
"The government will continue working with Saguenay communities and prospective investors on environmentally sustainable projects that deliver economic benefits for the region."
The IAAC’s 271-page report stated that there would be “significant direct and cumulative effects on marine mammals, including the beluga whale.”
In a bigger sense, it raised the issue of “significant effects resulting from greenhouse gas emissions given the effect that the Project’s greenhouse gas emission could have on the achievement of Quebec’s and Canada’s greenhouse gas emission and climate change objectives.”
The report also noted “significant effects on the cultural heritage of the Innu First Nations given the disturbance of marine mammals that would be caused by the increase in marine traffic.”
The final report, the government said, took into account opinions from the public as well as those of Quebec's Bureau d'audiences publiques sur l'environnement (BAPE), which concluded the project would do more harm than good in terms of its environmental impacts.
The findings were presented to the Governor in Council to make a decision on whether these adverse effects were justified. According to a news release issued Monday, the Governor in Council decided they were not “after careful deliberation and review” of the information provided.
The federal government said the final decision, however, does not prevent GNL Quebec Inc. from submitting new proposals for further development in the area.
