The Prince Rupert Gas Transmission line is a fracked gas pipeline first approved in 2014 by then-premier Christy Clark. Its purpose was to feed an LNG terminal planned for Lelu Island, just south of Prince Rupert (hence the name).

The project was approved with an expected capacity of shipping 2 to 3.6 billion cubic feet of LNG per day.

The pipeline was never built, but its permits and Environmental Assessment Certificate still make it viable in the eyes of gas companies and the B.C government until November 2024.

At the time of its approval 10 years ago, a handful of local Indigenous band councils signed Benefit Agreements, essentially allowing the project to be built across their land with the promise of financial compensation. But many hereditary chiefs and community members within those nations disagreed and spoke up against the plan.

As time wore on opposition grew, especially when it came to the proposed LNG terminal PRGT would feed, a project owned by Petronas slated for Lelu Island.

The Lax Kw’alaams Nation turned down a billion dollars offered to them by the company. Members of the Gitwilgyoots Tribe reclaimed the island by setting up a camp there for almost two years. They were there to protect the salmon and their communities from the fracked gas export facility.

They fought fiercely, and won. In 2017, Petronas cancelled the project and walked away.

Gitwilgyoots Chief Yahaan led the fight for Lelu and said it was a great relief to hear Petronas was finally pulling out, and that the tribe had always known it would just be a matter of time. Now in 2024, the PRGT pipeline is back. And once again, he’s standing firmly against fracked gas expansion.

Ksi Lisims (pronounced ‘Sliz-ems’) is the proposed facility PRGT would connect to. The plan is to ship fracked gas from wells in eastern B.C. to Pearse Island on the north coast, just south of the Alaskan border.

The island sits at the mouth of the Naas River, currently home to some of the healthiest salmon runs in the world. Pearse is one of many islands that makes up one of the most beautiful places in the world. A place tourists come to see what wild, untouched wilderness looks, feels and even smells like. There’s nowhere else like it.

The plan to put a dirty, belching gas terminal smack in the middle of that spot is precarious and absurd.

If built, the pipeline would cross more than 1,000 waterways, including major salmon-bearing rivers, and require cutting a trench across the Nisg̱a’a lava beds, where 300 years ago a volcanic eruption caused a massive lava flow that covered two Nisg̱a’a villages, killing more than 2,000 people. Their bodies are still buried there.

PRGT also threatens the two most important salmon rivers in B.C. It does not have the consent of many Indigenous communities along its route. And ultimately, the project would result in more fracking wells, more LNG exports, more pollution and more climate disasters.

The Nisga’a nation government co-owns Ksi Lisims with a consortium of fracking and LNG companies from Alberta and Texas. And they recently bought the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline project (from TC Energy) to further that plan.

Fast tracking and rule breaking

But PRGT was approved way back in 2014 based on environmental assessments done years before that, even. The project has already received a five year extension, and was about to lose its Environmental Certificate again if the then-owner TC Energy, didn’t start a substantial amount of construction before November 25.

There were rumblings that the Ksi Lisims consortium might buy PRGT to feed their proposed LNG terminal in the north, so Dogwood staff were watching the Environmental Assessment Office’s page for any updates. And up until this summer, there were none.

B.C.’s EAO has an obligation to keep the public informed of activity on the Environmental Assessments of pipeline projects, and report out notices of construction six months before the certificate is set to expire. So when May 2024 came and went, local people opposed to construction were relieved to see no notice was given.

But then in early summer, the Energy Regulator revealed it had secretly changed the pipeline permits months before. It turns out provincial bureaucrats had been working with then-owner TC Energy (the same company behind the Coastal GasLink debacle) to bring the pipeline back to life and sell it to another company.

Provincial regulators bent over backwards to fit the gas industry’s timeline for the LNG terminal. They ignored legally required permit conditions. And they skipped consultation with Indigenous communities all along the PRGT route, who are directly affected.

Now local groups are pursuing legal action against the B.C. government. The public deserves to know if there was collusion and illegal activity happening behind the scenes.

In the meantime…

It could cost the Nisga’a government tens of billions to build their LNG terminal and buy PRGT from TC Energy. And to make it all work, they needed to start construction ASAP. Initial work was set to begin August 25.

In response to the start of construction, Gitanyow hereditary chiefs say ‘no’. Chiefs and community members recently erected a blockade on their laxyip (territory) to prevent construction traffic from reaching a proposed 1,000-person “man camp” – temporary living spaces for pipeline workers often linked to increased violence against Indigenous women.

Days later, tribal protectors representing four Nisg̱a’a villages set up a second blockade to stop pipeline vehicles from proceeding past the village of Gitlax̱t’aamiks (formerly New Aiyansh) leading to the man camp.

Gitanyow hereditary chiefs also literally burned their 10-year-old Benefits Agreement with PRGT. Some people at the fire roasted fresh salmon over top of the flames.

This act of defiance demonstrates just how strong local opposition to PRGT is, and that previous agreements are off the table in light of current conditions. There is deep frustration with the B.C. government over their lack of transparency or consultation, among other things.

When nations signed Agreements with PRGT 10 years ago, it was for a pipeline destined for Lelu Island, not Pearse. This current project, though carrying the same name, has an entirely new route for the last section of the pipe, and is also trying to add in a last-minute spur (a smaller pipeline off the main line) along the ocean floor.

Normally major changes like these would take years to approve. This time public consultation on the route change wraps up after only 30 days, on September 3.

The Gitanyow chiefs and northern communities are also saying they’re more aware of and concerned about the way fracking and methane accelerate climate change, and how toxic gas can be to people who use it to heat their homes and cook.

Wildfires, droughts and heat waves are on the rise, all signs that we need to stop fossil fuel expansion, not welcome it.

For 10 years, PRGT has faced strong Indigenous resistance. Nisga’a community members have been left in the dark about their government’s pipeline purchase, with more and more grassroots Nisga’a folks speaking out against PRGT in recent weeks. At minimum, people want answers.

More recently, Wet’suwet’en, Gitxsan, Ts’msyen, and Gitanyow leaders have been meeting regularly, building strong alliances and raising money to take legal action against PRGT.

What’s next?

Construction got off to a shaky start on Saturday, August 24, with trucks forced to take the long way around through Terrace, due to the ongoing Gitanyow blockade.

PRGT will have three months to show the EAO they’ve made enough progress to keep their Environmental certificate valid. The person making that decision will be B.C.’s next Environment Minister — but what constitutes enough “progress” isn’t defined.

But on-the-ground resistance is growing and only seems to be getting stronger.

There are also legal challenges to the project in the works driven by local Indigenous leaders, a fact that will slow down the pipeline and fracked gas terminal one way or another. But will it be enough to stall the project to death?

A boiling point is on its way.

Halt PRGT action.

To support the Nisga’a grassroots legal fund, donate here.

To support the Gitanyow blockade: e-transfer wil@kitwancool.com (Simogyet Hereditary Chief) Gamlakyeltxw, Wil Marsden