CREDIT: CH TV

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NANAIMO, B.C. (CP) -- A natural gas pipeline to Vancouver Island has cleared a key environmental hurdle.

Two federal watchdog agencies have recommended a proposed natural gas pipeline across Georgia Strait from the B.C. mainland go to the next step of decision-making, the project's backers said Wednesday.

The joint review panel of the National Energy Board and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency issued its report relating to the assessment of the $340-million Georgia Strait Crossing Canada Pipeline Project, dubbed GSX.

"B.C. Hydro is very pleased that this part of the Canadian regulatory process for GSX has been completed," Bev Van Ruyven, the Crown-owned power company's senior vice-president for distribution, said in a news release.

Ruyven said the island's residents and businesses face a serious electricity shortfall by 2007, when one of the submarine power cable systems to the island from the B.C. mainland is decommissioned, unless something is done to replace the lost capacity.

"GSX is an integral part of the plan to ensure that B.C. Hydro's Vancouver Island customers continue to receive the reliable service they have come to enjoy and expect," said Ruyven.

The GSX project is a joint proposal by Hydro and Williams Gas Pipelines Ltd. to provide natural gas transportation service from the Huntington-Sumas market hub on the Canada-U.S. border to Vancouver Island.

Hydro filed an application with the energy board in April 2001 for the Canadian portion of the international project. U.S. regulators approved the American portion of the project last September.

"The (panel's) report follows an extensive review of all aspects of the project and is an important milestone in finalizing the regulatory and permitting processes," said Williams vice-president Allison Bridges. "GSX looks forward to serving Vancouver Island and providing an additional source of gas supply."

But environmentalists are not happy the project has received a federal green light.

The pipeline threatens the already declining marine environment of the southern Strait of Georgia, said the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society.

"The recommendation to approve the GSX pipeline is extremely disappointing," Natalie Ban, the society's marine campaign co-ordinator, said in a news release.

Ban said the panel apparently disregarded strong evidence of potential harm and did not consider new evidence that arose after the hearings about an alternate energy proposal for the island by Terasen, formerly B.C. Gas.

"The pipeline is likely to be noisy enough to it to be hard for the orcas to find sufficient already-scarce food to survive," said David Bain of the University of Washington. "This might be a matter of life or death for them."

The pipeline will cut through a proposed national marine conservation area, one of five such sites announced by Prime Minister Jean Chretien, the society said.

Hydro said the 136-kilometre pipeline project is part of a broader strategy by the power company.

The natural gas transported through the GSX pipeline will fuel electric generation facilities on Vancouver Island: a 240 megawatt plant already operating in Campbell River and the proposed 265-megawatt Duke Point plant at Nanaimo.

Besides helping supply growing electricity demand on the island, the pipeline will also serve its growing base of natural gas customers.