Last week, the Council of Canadians Winnipeg and Quill Plains chapters, along with the Council of Canadians national office, wrote to the National Energy Board to demand a two week extension to their March 3rd deadline for submitting applications for the review process on the Energy East pipeline.
The extension was requested because, as Council of Canadians energy and climate justice campaigner Andrea Harden-Donahue explained, “[There were a] number of concerns with the NEB website … that have led to people trying to apply, not being able to do so.”
She highlighted, “Our Winnipeg chapter, as part of the Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition, has been supporting individuals and groups affected by TransCanada’s proposed Energy East pipeline to have the opportunity to participate in the NEB review. As they report: ‘Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition has hosted two workshops on Saturdays to assist people with the application process. The first was held on February 7th and the second was held on February, 28th. On both dates, workshop attendees were unable to successfully register for a GCKey Login. After filling in all required fields and having them accepted, the screen below appeared. This occurred at least 15 times on at least four different computers.'”
In a campaign blog sent to our supporters, we noted, “To send your letter to the National Energy Board on this matter, their mailing address is: National Energy Board, 517 Tenth Avenue SW, Calgary, Alberta, T2R 0A8. You can also fax your letter to them at 1-877-288-8803 or call them at 1-800-899-1265.”
Today, the National Energy Board announced, “The NEB was made aware that there were some technical difficulties with the NEB website for short periods of time during the Energy East application to participate (ATP) process. As a result, the Board decided to allow additional time to apply to participate. We will accept applications to participate from March 10 – 17, 2015.”
Congratulations to everyone who contacted the NEB to demand this extension to their deadline.
By the time of the first deadline, there were 1,801 applicants to participate in the NEB review of the pipeline. For helpful background on how to submit your application to speak against this controversial 1.1 million barrel per day pipeline, please click here. Another request to the National Energy Board to extend the deadline by 30 days is still pending. That request was made given concerns raised by residents of Red Head, New Brunswick about the failure of TransCanada to notify them about the application process. More information on that can be found here.
Further reading
Winnipeg & Quill Plains chapters call for extension to NEB deadline on Energy East pipeline (March 2015 blog)
Step-by-step guide to filling out an application
