Dear Editor,
I would like to clarify some misconceptions that were stated in Caryn Colman’s recent letter to the editor on October 5, 2023. TC Energy has not been sued by B.C.’s provincial government.
On September 21, 2023, the B.C. Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) announced two administrative actions on the Coastal GasLink Project – the first relating to erosion and sediment control events that occurred in mid-2022, with the second relating to an unintentional reporting error. Shortly after these took place, we entered into a Compliance Agreement with B.C.’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. This Agreement has resulted in significant improvements and the Coastal GasLink team continues to make significant strides forward in the management of environmental protection.
Further, we can provide assurance that Georgian Bay and local residents’ sources for drinking water, will not be impacted. We are committed to ongoing water surveys and will be conducting additional ground water surveys as the Project progresses through a rigorous provincial and federal environmental and impact assessments, which will include additional public consultation and opportunities for further community input.
Ms. Colman’s comment regarding air quality and climate change are a shared concern. The Ontario Pumped Storage Project will contribute considerably to helping clean the province of greenhouse gas emissions as it will produce 1,000 megawatts of clean, emission-free power and will help reduce our reliance on natural gas generation. The Project will enable Ontario to transition to a zero-emissions energy grid and will also help Canada meet its climate change goals.
With every major project we undertake, there are both rigorous and transparent environmental and safety standards we need to meet – and rectify should our plans not meet the expectations of regulators. Our reporting, implementation and designs are transparent, fair and open to public analysis.
We welcome the community’s feedback as we continue to design in the public eye. We continue to hold weekly coffee chat sessions at our office on Sykes Street. The federal and provincial impact assessment will add additional layers of regulatory oversight and multiple rounds of public and transparent consultation. In the coming months, when the assessment processes are expected to begin, we look forward to sharing further information about the project, and most importantly, to listen to feedback from the residents of Meaford.
Sincerely,
John Mikkelsen, P.Eng. M.A.Sc.
TC Energy
