A potential pipeline that would supply liquefied natural gas to the proposed Ksi Lisims LNG facility near the mouth of the Nass River could be ruled invalid by the Canadian Energy Regulator.

According to a Canadian Energy Regulator application filed by Mike Sawyer, Executive Director for the Citizen’s Oil and Gas Council, “the PRGT Project and North Montney Pipeline, along with Nova Gas’ interprovincial system, together comprise a single federally-regulated undertaking, and as such the PRGT Project falls within federal, not provincial, jurisdiction and is subject to regulation by the CER. I respectfully request that the CER issue a declaratory order and a Notice of Constitutional Question as requested.”

In 2014, Sawyer questioned the jurisdiction of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission, arguing to the National Energy Board at the time, now the Canadian Energy Regulator, that the pipeline was incorrectly assessed and should be regulated under federal jurisdiction, not provincial. A federal appeals court seemed to side with Sawyer before Petronas cancelled the project.

In September 2021, the Nisga’a Lisims Government in the Nass Valley announced an ambitious new resource project, Ksi Lisims (s’lisims) LNG, a 12-million-tonne-per-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) project at Wil Milit, north of Prince Rupert, BC near the Nisga’a village of Gingolx.

The project will be managed equally by the Nisga’a Nation, Rockies LNG and Western LNG.

The location of the new LNG project is slated for the Wil Milit, approximately 15 kilometers east of Gingolx, on treatied land. The proposed site consists of undeveloped, but previously logged, land in close proximity to existing shipping routes.

Listen to CICK's full interview with Mike Sawyer below: