Lost track of the Huu-ay-aht First Nation's LNG developments? Here's a summary.
• Nov. 2014 — Huu-ay-aht citizens vote 61 per cent in favour of continuing on with the LNG proposal
• Feb. 2015—Steelhead and WorleyParsons sign a $30 million contract for environmental impact assessments, preliminary Front End Engineering and Design (pre-FEED) studies, geotechnical investigations, and permitting approvals support for the project
• Sept. 2015—Steelhead and pipeline manufacturer Williams signed a pre-construction agreement to build a natural gas pipeline from Washington State to the site of the proposed floating LNG facility on Malahat Nation land near Mill Bay. The proposed independent pipeline would run 53 kilometres from Sumas to Cherry Creek, both in Washington State. From there, the pipeline would carry natural gas 75 kilometres underwater to the proposed Malahat LNG project. The first phase of the project is meant to supply natural gas to the proposed Malahat facility; however, Steelhead CEO Nigel Kuzemko said at the time that the pipeline would eliminate the big stumbling blocks for the Sarita Bay proposal.
• Oct. 2015—the National Energy board approved Steelhead’s application for five licences to export a total of 30 million tonnes per year for 25 years between the Malahat and Sarita LNG projects.
What happens next:
One licence to export up to six million tonnes annually is for Malahat and the other four are for Sarita Bay, according to Steelhead.
A final investment decision will be made in 2018 and if it goes ahead, the plant is expected to be operating by 2022.
While it was the previous Huu-ay-aht council that made the decision to explore the project, Cootes—a first time councillor—said that current council will follow the direction
“The idea is to support the vote to explore the possibility of having the LNG industry in our territory,” he said.
“We’re in the process of satisfying the 14 conditions that were laid out at the last People’s Assembly and if those can be met then we’re willing to go forward.”