Lax Kw’alaams Band
Bulletin 1
For Members Only
Community Backgrounder
The Pacific Northwest LNG Facility and Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Pipelines Projects
The Pacific Northwest LNG Facility (PNW LNG)
The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Pipelines (PRGT)
If constructed, the PNW LNG facility will be located on Lelu
Island in the Prince Rupert Harbour and will liquefy natural
gas from northeast B.C. so it can be shipped on LNG carriers
to offshore markets. In addition to the construction of the
facility covering the whole of Lelu Island, the Project also
consists of a 1.6 km suspension bridge from Lelu Island, on
the western edge of Flora Bank, to an LNG carrier berth
which is capable of supporting two carriers at a time. The
Project was redesigned in late 2014 to include the
suspension bridge, rather than a trestle over Flora Bank, so
that the amount of dredging and disturbance in critical salmon
habitat would be reduced. Much of the impetus for this
redesign came because of issues Lax Kw’alaams raised in
the environmental assessment processes for the Project
about impacts on Flora Bank and salmon habitat.
PRGT is two natural gas pipelines 50 meters apart that will
be constructed, if the Project goes ahead, from the northeast
of BC (near Hudson’s Hope) to the PNW LNG site on Lelu
Island, with a total approximate length of 950 km. The last
120 km of the pipelines will be marine based and is located
entirely in Lax Kw’alaams territory running from Nass Bay,
across the Mylor Peninsula, through Portland Inlet and
Chatham Sound, to Lelu Island. The marine pipelines will
have a right of way of 200 m, with a wider right of way during
construction and will consist of concrete coated pipelines on
the seabed. In shallow areas the pipelines will be located in a
trench and covered, whereas in deepwater portions the
pipelines will be installed directly on the seabed after it has
been levelled. Only a small portion of the land-based
pipelines will be in Lax Kw’alaams’ territory on the south side
of the Nass Bay estuary and on a portion of land on the Mylor
Peninsula between Iceberg Bay and Nasoga Gulf. The life of
the project is expected to be over 40 years (See map on
page 2).
In the early stages of the Project, one LNG carrier will leave
the facility every two days, and by full build-out of the Project
there will be 350 LNG carriers leaving the facility each year
(roughly one carrier per day). Carriers will be up to 315
meters long and will travel from Lelu Island through Chatham
Sound to the Triple Island pilot station and north of Haida
Gwaii to offshore markets. The life of the project is expected
to be at least 30 years (See diagram below).
For more Information: PNWLNG.com
The Pacific Northwest LNG Facility (PNW LNG)
PRGT Pipeline
Flora Bank
Lelu Island
The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Pipeline (PRGT)
Proposed Route
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Community Backgrounder
Potential Impacts of the Projects on Lax Kw’alaams’
Territory and Rights
The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission Pipelines
Project
The Pacific Northwest LNG Facility
If the pipelines are constructed, the vast majority of
the pipelines in Lax Kw’alaams’ territory will be
underwater, with long term disturbance along 120
km of the seabed adjacent to the pipelines. The
pipelines could have negative impacts on fish and
fish habitat, increased marine traffic could alter
access to traditional fishing grounds, crab
movement and health may be impacted by the
pipelines, and there is potential for the
contamination of seafood from dredging at Lelu
Island where the pipelines arrive at the PNW LNG
facility.
If the Project is constructed, Lelu Island will be
effectively off bounds to Lax Kw’alaams’ members
as the island will be largely cleared. As a result, Lax
Kw’alaams would no longer be able to harvest
traditional plants and medicines on Lelu Island. Up
to 431 culturally modified trees (CMTs) would be
destroyed during the construction of the facility,
although the Proponent will attempt to preserve
parts of the CMTs with modified features on them.
The suspension bridge on the west side of Flora
Bank, and the movement of 350 LNG carriers
through Lax Kw’alaams’ waters each year (700 total
trips) will impact marine navigation and have
impacts on marine resources, including the Skeena
River fishery and marine mammals. While the
project re-design has reduced the need for
dredging, concerns remain about the impacts on
Flora Bank itself, on the Skeena River fisheries and
fish habitat, on other marine resources including
marine mammals, and including the potential
contamination of marine resources that could result
from dredging up the sediments near Lelu Island.
The significance of these marine impacts,
particularly on critical rearing habitat for Skeena
River salmon, remains unclear as the federal
environmental assessment process is ongoing.
B.C.’s environmental assessment found that PNW
LNG “would have a serious impact on Lax
Kw’alaams Band’s asserted Aboriginal title”, even
before the marine impacts of the Project had been
fully assessed by the Federal government.
Additional impacts found by B.C. on Lax Kw’alaams
include:
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Increased air emissions, with potential effects
from acidification on vegetation, fish and
wildlife;
Effects on benthic and near shore marine life
through shoreline modification, ship wake, and
disturbance and/or removal of sediments during
the construction of the marine terminal; and
Increased marine traffic in the area and altered
access to traditional fishing grounds.
Despite these concerns being raised by Lax
Kw’alaams, B.C.’s environmental assessment found
that PRGT would have “minor impacts” on Lax
Kw’alaams asserted aboriginal title, and minor to
negligible impacts on the ability of members of fish,
hunt and gather.
Potential Environmental Impacts of the Projects
In addition to those outlined above, Lax Kw’alaams
has identified a number of potential adverse impacts
from the Projects on Lax Kw’alaams’ territory and
interests, these include:
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Impacts on Skeena River salmon as a result of
disruption to key juvenile salmon habitat around
Flora Bank due to construction and operation of
the facility;
Impacts to fish and fish habitat as a result of
disruption to sediment transport and
hydrodynamic changes from the trestle and ship
berth associated with the PNW Facility;
Contamination of marine resources such as
clams due to dredging required around Lelu
Island and the disposal of these materials at
sea;
Impacts on marine resources due to significant
shipping traffic, including on fish and marine
mammals vulnerable to noise and vessel
strikes;
For more Information: laxkwalaams.ca
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Community Backgrounder
Potential Environmental Impacts of the Projects
Continued
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Impacts on marine navigation, and harvesting
activities, resulting from the construction of a
large suspension bridge on the western edge of
Flora Bank, and up to 700 LNG carrier trips
each year in and around the Prince Rupert
Harbour, Porpoise Channel, Kitson Island, Flora
Bank and the Skeena River estuary. Impacts
include increased difficulty accessing resource
harvesting sites and damage to existing sites
due to various factors, including ship wakes;
Destruction of cultural resources, including
hundreds of CMTs, on Lelu Island;
Elimination of Lelu Island, and immediately
adjacent waters, for harvesting traditional
resources;
Impacts on marine resources from construction
and maintenance of the pipeline, including
limiting access to fishing and marine resource
harvesting sites. Impacted fisheries would
include crab, salmon, rockfish, halibut and
herring.
Steps Taken by Lax Kw’alaams to Address
Environmental Impacts
Lax Kw’alaams has been heavily involved in the
environmental assessment processes for both
the PNW LNG and PRGT projects, and continues to
engage in the federal environmental assessment for
PNW LNG. The federal environmental assessment
continues to assess impacts on the marine
environment, including impacts on Skeena River
fisheries and Flora Bank.
Lax Kw’alaams Band has received capacity
funding from PRGT to assist with participation in
the EA process for that project, which has allowed
Lax Kw’alaams to retain biologists (i.e. the Skeena
Fisheries Commission) and other experts to assist
Lax Kw’alaams to push for the most rigorous
environmental assessment possible for each
project.
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Lax Kw’alaams continues to review and
comment on permits required from the Province
for both projects, as well as the Environmental
Management Plans for each Project. Engagement
with the Province and proponents on these permits
and Environmental Management Plans is aimed at
ensuring any impacts on Lax Kw’alaams territory,
rights and interests are avoided and mitigated as
appropriate and that the proponents fulfill conditions
placed on the approval of the projects by the
Province.
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Lax Kw’alaams Membership
Meeting Dates
1
Lax Kw’alaams has been a key player in having
the federal environmental assessment put on
hold twice while the Proponent gathers better
information to inform the assessment of marine
impacts. As part of this, the Skeena Fisheries
Commission continues to push the federal
government and Proponent to properly assess and
address the impacts of PNW LNG on Flora Bank,
the Skeena estuary, the sediments in the area, and
fish and fish habitat.
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Lax Kw’alaams Village (School)………......May 4
Coast Tsimshian Academy Gym
Lax Kw’alaams Advisors Presentation
Lax Kw’alaams Village (School)………......May 5
Proponents Presentation
Prince Rupert (Chances)……………………May 6
North Coast Conference Centre
Lax Kw’alaams Advisors Presentation
Prince Rupert (Chances)………….…………May 7
Proponents Presentation
Vancouver (Chateau Granville)…………….May 11
1100 Granville Street
Lax Kw’alaams Advisors Presentation
Vancouver (Chateau Granville)…………….May 12
Proponents Presentation
All meetings will be from 7:00pm - 10:30pm.
* Membership will be asked to vote by show of
hands after the presentations whether or not
you support the development of these LNG
projects and the benefits packages.
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