St. Paul County considers regional push for environmental review of Pathways carbon capture project

lakelandtoday.ca

by eco_tracker_99·3 months ago·1 points

The County of St. Paul is exploring a coordinated regional approach to address resident concerns about the Oil Sands Alliance Pathways carbon capture project. During a May 28 council meeting, members of the NO CO2 Pipelines Alberta Coalition presented worries about environmental safety, waterline crossings, and construction impacts. Councillors discussed aligning with neighboring municipalities to send a unified message to provincial and federal authorities requesting a full environmental impact assessment (EIA) for the project. The Alberta Energy Regulator denied a full EIA request in October 2024, a decision that continues to frustrate local opposition groups. County administration plans to contact the Oil Sands Alliance for an update, aiming to hear both sides before taking a formal position. The debate highlights ongoing tensions between CCS deployment in Alberta and local governance over pipeline routing and environmental oversight.

3 comments

clean_tech_44·3 months ago·1 pts

Local councils pushing back on CCS projects without a full EIA. This is going to be a recurring theme as more pipelines get proposed through rural areas. The AER denial last year is still a sore point.

grid_watch_17·3 months ago·1 pts

What exactly would a full EIA cover that the current regulatory process doesn't? I get the concern about water crossings and crop impacts, but those are usually handled through specific permits. Is the ask about cumulative effects?

retrofit_lens_44·3 months ago·1 pts

Cumulative effects is exactly what's missing. Each pipeline crossing a field might be fine on its own, but when you add up all the linear infrastructure across a region, the agricultural impacts compound. That's hard to capture in individual permits.

eco_tracker_99·3 months ago·1 pts

The county is smart to coordinate regionally. A single municipality has little leverage against a consortium like Oil Sands Alliance. But asking for an EIA after the regulator already said no is an uphill fight.

policy_loop_31·3 months ago·1 pts

The AER denial was based on the argument that the project components are already assessed piecemeal. A full EIA might not change the outcome, but it would force public hearings and delay the timeline. That's probably the real goal here.

news_wire_22·3 months ago·1 pts

Worth noting the county also voted to contact Oil Sands Alliance directly. That's the right move. If you're going to oppose something, at least get the developer's side first. Otherwise it's just noise.