Ecojustice Launches Northern Gateway Lawsuit

Ecojustice has filed a lawsuit seeking a court order to force the Joint Review Panel to go back to the drawing board and remedy flaws in its final environmental assessment report on the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline.

In December, the Joint Review panel recommended that the pipeline be approved because "Canadians will be better off with this project than without it." The federal Cabinet is expected to accept the panel's recommendation and approve the pipeline, sometime in the next six months. Ecojustice argues that the panel' conclusion contains several legal errors and is based on insufficient evidence. They say the panel:

• Concluded that diluted bitumen is unlikely to sink in an ocean environment — even though a federal study released earlier this week suggests otherwise;