PGRT signs project agreement with Metlakatla First Nation

TransCanada Corporation said that its Prince Rupert Gas Transmission project has signed a project agreement with the Metlakatla First Nation, a member of the Coast Tsimshian Nation.

The project agreement, the eighth with First Nations along the pipeline route, outlines financial and other benefits and commitments that will be provided for as long as the project is in service, TransCanada said on Tuesday.

“This agreement with the Metlakatla First Nation has a significant interest in the Skeena estuary and wants to ensure that the environment around the Pacific NorthWest liquefaction facility is protected,” said Dean Patry, president of PRGT.

While the specific terms of the agreement remain confidential, it includes access to employment, training and capacity development and, initial and annual payments for the life of the project.

The Metlakatla First Nation Project Agreement is the second signed with a member of the Tsimshian Nation. A previous agreement with the Kitselas First Nation was announced in April.

Metlakatla First Nation has separately completed a term sheet agreement with Pacific NorthWest LNG.

Along the pipeline route, PRGT has also signed project agreements with Doig River, Halfway River and Yekooche First Nations, Gitanyow First Nation, Kitselas First Nation, Lake Babine Nation and Nisga’a Lisims Government.

PRGT is proposing to design, build, own and operate a 900 kilometre natural gas pipeline to deliver natural gas from a point near Hudson’s Hope to the proposed Pacific NorthWest LNG facility at Lelu Island, off the coast of Port Edward, near Prince Rupert.

Image: TransCanada