Environmental assessment of Imperial in Norman Wells will go ahead

An environmental assessment of Imperial Oil’s Norman Wells operations, which an Indigenous body had requested but Imperial had sought to avoid, will proceed.

Environmental assessments are the most thorough form of regulatory scrutiny available in the NWT for major projects.

On Tuesday, the Mackenzie Valley Review Board – which oversees those assessments – decided an assessment of Imperial’s Norman Wells facility should go ahead despite the company’s objections.

In a letter to Imperial setting out its reasons, the review board rejected various grounds the company had put forward for halting an environmental assessment.

The board ruled against Imperial’s interpretation of federal legislation and said the Sahtu Dene and Métis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement prevails over relevant sections of the Mackenzie Valley Resource Management Act.

The board said an environmental assessment would not duplicate other regulatory work, as Imperial had suggested, and decided Imperial had been given procedurally fair treatment.

“We are reviewing the decision,” Imperial Oil told Cabin Radio.

The review board also rejected an NWT government argument that an environmental assessment had been triggered prematurely.

Over the past year, oil giant Imperial had applied to two regulators – the Canada Energy Regulator and the Sahtu Land and Water Board – for permits to keep running its century-old Norman Wells oil field.

In September, the Sahtu Secretariat referred those applications for environmental assessment, a more detailed process led by the review board.

The secretariat, which represents Sahtu Dene and Métis, said it had done so partly on the grounds that the ecosystem, politics and socio-economic circumstances in which the facility operates had changed since it was last licensed. (Imperial Oil says it was simply renewing existing permits and little to nothing has changed.)

At first, the review board began an environmental assessment in accordance with the secretariat’s request. But Imperial then challenged that move, asking the board to halt the assessment.

Various parties subsequently intervened, including other Indigenous governments and the GNWT. Arguments made by all of the parties range from how treaty rights should be applied to how paragraphs within federal legislation should be interpreted.

The board had been expected to decide on a way forward in mid-November, but then said it needed “more time to make a fully informed, fair and reasoned decision.”

Board ‘deeply aware’ of economic effects

What happens to the Norman Wells oil field – and when – has consequences for Imperial and the town.

The field is expected to close down for good in the next five to 10 years. Imperial has previously said regulatory delays might result in that closure date being brought forward, which would have economic ramifications as well as knock-on environmental effects.

“The Review Board acknowledges the broader implications of its decision, particularly for the community of Norman Wells, the residents of the Sahtu region, and Imperial,” the board’s letter to Imperial on Tuesday stated.

“The Review Board is deeply aware of the interconnectedness of this long-standing operation with the town’s economy, local employment, and regional well-being. It is not the Review Board’s intention to create additional challenges for these stakeholders. Instead, the Review Board’s mandate requires it to focus on the environmental and socio-economic impacts of the applications themselves.”

There are also broader issues at play, such as how treaty rights and federal legislation were weighed in this decision, which could have a precedent-setting effect on how other regulators, companies and Indigenous governments approach similar scenarios in future.

In its letter, the board told Imperial that a “comprehensive impact assessment” of the closure and decommissioning of the Norman Wells facility might be a “more appropriate mechanism to address the concerns of all parties.” (Imperial had suggested something similar.)

“The Review Board encourages Imperial to explore this option in consultation with SSI, the town of Norman Wells and affected parties,” the board wrote.

It wasn’t immediately clear if the board meant such an assessment could replace this environmental assessment at a later date if all parties agreed, or if a comprehensive impact assessment would follow the environmental assessment.

More: Read the review board’s ruling in full

The Canada Energy Regulator has already given Imperial permission to keep operating the Norman Wells facility while an assessment happens, avoiding the prospect of closure by the end of this calendar year.

Imperial has said it needs a similar extension from the Sahtu Land and Water Board to keep operating past next spring. The company had also said it would consider legal action if an assessment went ahead.

A separate environmental assessment has begun of an Imperial project to replace some pipelines in the Mackenzie River, meaning Imperial will be the subject of two assessments at once.