Coastal GasLink fined $590K following 'repeated non-compliance' with environmental rules

Piping is seen on the top of a receiving platform, which will be connected to the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline terminus at the LNG Canada export terminal under construction, in Kitimat, B.C., Sept. 28, 2022. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press)

British Columbia's Environmental Assessment Office fined the company responsible for a natural gas pipeline in northern B.C. for the sixth time this week.

The EAO imposed 10 administrative penalties totalling $590,000 on Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. Wednesday for the company's failure to comply with the requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.

The latest fines mean Coastal GasLink has now been fined approximately $1.3 million since construction work on the 670-kilometre pipeline began in 2019. The project reached "mechanical completion" in November 2023.

The EAO has also completed nearly 100 inspections of the project, issuing 59 warnings and 30 orders – including 13 stop-work orders – during that time.

Coastal GasLink was previously fined $72,500 in February 2022, $170,100 in May 2022, $213,600 in January 2023 and $340,000 in September 2023. Each of those fines was for failing to adequately control erosion and sediment, as were the latest penalties.

The company was also fined $6,000 in September 2023 for "providing false or misleading information," according to the EAO.

"These latest financial penalties reflect the EAO’s escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance with EAO requirements," the office said in a statement.

"Construction of the pipeline is now complete, however, the EAO will continue to actively monitor the project during the current reclamation work, to ensure it meets all requirements."

In response to the latest fines, Coastal GasLink issued its own statement, noting that the penalties stem from issues that occurred while the project was still under construction.

"We respect the role our regulators have in upholding the high regulatory standards that we are committed to meeting," the company's statement reads. "As soon as these issues were identified, we took immediate and decisive action to correct them."

The statement also asserts that the company "has been fully and consistently compliant with the EAO on erosion and sediment control" since last fall.

The controversial pipeline will carry natural gas from facilities west of Dawson Creek to the LNG Canada liquefied natural gas export terminal currently under construction near Kitimat.

While Coastal GasLink signed agreements with the elected leadership of each of the 20 First Nations located along the pipeline's route, the hereditary chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation have remained staunchly opposed to the project.

In February 2020, protests by supporters of the hereditary chiefs prompted nationwide solidarity blockades. Tensions have remained high since then, with the company complaining of a pattern of violence directed against its workers, including a February 2022 attack on a worksite that caused millions of dollars in damage.

Meanwhile, protesters and the hereditary chiefs have denied any connection to the violence and denounced the February 2022 attack, while also complaining that they have been unfairly targeted by the RCMP and subjected to "bogus" arrests.