This after the chief executive officer of Petronas, Shamsul Azhar Abbas complained to the Financial Times about “uncertainty, delay, and short vision” while threatening to cancel the $36 billion LNG project.
It now turns out that is was in fact Petronas requesting a time extension on the environmental review, citing a need to work out modifications and include “substantial” mitigation measures to reduce and ultimately avoid adverse effects to the marine habitat, according to a B.C. Environment Minister official.
Earlier in the year, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency reportedly identified “key information gaps” and raised concerns about species-at-risk, air pollution, inadequate First Nations consultation and a potential risk to human health, which includes the contamination of marine-based foods.
The project will only move forward when, and if both the provincial and federal government grant an environmental certificate, which means when calculating the 45-day extension, a final decision may not be reached until the end of December.
Shamsul is expected to meet with Premier Chirsty Clark this week to discuss the state of his project.
Read the entire Globe and Mail report here.
With files from The Globe and Mail
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