For over two years Imperial Oil has been advocating for their Cold Lake Expansion Project, and they haven’t gotten very far.
During the City of Cold Lake’s corporate priorities meeting on May 15, council agreed it was time to step it up a notch, and send a letter to Premier Rachel Notley.
“We have already written to the Minister of Energy… Let’s just write to the premier and say ‘you have a $2-billion project here that’s going to bring 50,000 barrels a day of bitumen, and when are you going to step in and say enough is enough and this project needs to be given to the AER to make a ruling on it,’” expressed Mayor Craig Copeland.
“This Imperial Oil project is so significant for our area. We need some positive news. The positive news is we can’t control this whole thing with debate. We can’t control the policy either the federal government or the province are going to introduce to oil companies. What we can do is write about the process and improving these significant projects so they at least get a yes or no.”
The project was filed in March 2016, and over the past two years, Imperial Oil has been waiting for the green light to get started on the expansion of their Cold Lake facility.
Currently, the project is sitting in the hands of the Aboriginal Consultation Office (ACO), and before it can be hadned to the AER for approval, it needs to be passed by the ACO.
According to Copeland, Imperial Oil was required to meet with six First Nations communities, before submitting their paperwork to the ACO for review.
“They got that paperwork in Febraury 2018, and now, three months later, they still haven’t come out with a decision. How hard is it to look at the paperwork and see?” Copeland stressed. “AER can’t make a decision on this file until the ACO has done their due diligence. We have to move on.”
Throughout the community, Copeland has noted concern amongst residents and business owners when it comes to this project moving forward.
What they need, he said, is some good news.
This isn’t the first time the city has reached out regarding an update or the importance of this project.
After sending multiple letters to the province, the city finally had an opportunity to sit down with staff from the Alberta consultation office.
“Shortly after that meeting, on Feb. 22, a letter from Richard Reehan, Minister of Indigenous Relations, stated that the consultation phase of this expansion project is in its late stages,” detailed Andrew Serba, strategic initiatives manager for the city.
Until this project is approved, Imperial has confirmed with the city that they will put a hold on the expansion of their Aspen Project, which is located north of Fort McMurray.
The 17 Statements of Concern on the file have also not been addressed to this point, which is another hurdle the project has to face.
Coun. Kirk Soroka agreed with Copeland that it was time to step their concern up a notch.
“I think it’s time to step over the gophers in the cabinet because it’s just not happening.”
