Coastal GasLink’s response to EAO’s Determination of Administrative Penalty
Coastal GasLink respects the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office’s (EAO) role in upholding the high regulatory standards that we are committed to meeting. Those standards represent the exceptional measures in place to safely deliver B.C.’s natural gas to the world while protecting our environment. They are fundamental values for our Indigenous and local community partners, and values that are at our very core as well.
This administrative penalty reflects erosion and sediment control concerns during EAO inspections from a year ago, in February 2022. We took immediate and decisive action to address these issues, which ultimately led to the Compliance Agreement we signed with the provincial Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy in July 2022.
Today’s determination by the EAO is a reminder of how far we’ve come in a year, and we are encouraged by their recent recognition of that progress. We continue to work closely with our regulators to look for ways where we can do better across our project, especially with erosion and sediment control.
As part of the Compliance Agreement, we have successfully implemented the following measures:
- Erosion and sediment control mitigation plans that are developed and supervised by Certified Professionals in Erosion and Sediment Control (CPESCs) throughout the Project
- Greater collaboration and transparency with our Independent Erosion and Sediment Control Auditors
- Increased EAO oversight through the Compliance Agreement
- Built the largest and most robust team of Erosion and Sediment Control Qualified Professionals in the province through additional training and hiring
- Expanded erosion and sediment control training across our prime contractors and workforce
To date, the project has been inspected more than 500 times by regulators, with a satisfactory inspection rate of 90% as reported by the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission, compared to the industry standard of 82%.
With construction on Coastal GasLink now over 81% complete, we are on track for completion at the end of this year. We remain steadfast in our commitment to achieving the highest standards of environmental protection during construction, and the 6,000 women and men working on the project strive to meet it every day.