CALGARY – An aboriginal group that lives in northern Alberta’s oilsands region has withdrawn from a regulatory hearing into the proposed Grand Rapids crude pipeline.
The Athabasca Fort Chipewyan First Nation says it will explore other ways to fight the $3-billion project, which would ship up to 900,000 barrels per day of crude from near Fort McMurray, Alta., to the Edmonton area.
ACFN chief Allan Adam says he was “dumbfounded” by the Alberta Energy Regulator’s process, which he says was prejudiced and held his group to “impossible” timelines.
Darin Barter, a spokesman for the regulator, says it’s disappointing the ACFN has pulled out of the process, which he says is fair and allows participants access to the same information at the same time.
The ACFN as well as some landowners in the area have complained that the hearings into the pipeline are being rushed.
The Grand Rapids pipeline is a 50-50 partnership between TransCanada Corp. and a unit of PetroChina.