A port for the export of gas is threatening the belugas

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The project Energy Saguenay is added to the mining Arianne Phosphate, which wants to build a marine terminal that is linked to its mine of the apatite of the lac Paul.

Anne Caroline Desplanques

Wednesday, September 6, 2017 06:30

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Wednesday, September 6, 2017 06:30

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Fisheries and Oceans Canada believes that a lng port in the Saguenay fjord would be a serious threat to the survival of two endangered species, the beluga whale and the striped bass.

“Destruction of habitat “, ” potential mortality “, Fisheries and Oceans Canada is formal : the “serious harm” are to be expected if the project Energy Saguenay LNG Quebec goes ahead, according to a memo obtained by The Newspaper under the Law of access to information.

The company wants to erect a complex for the liquefaction of natural gas dedicated to the export in the Saguenay river, upstream from the marine park of Saguenay-Saint-Laurent.

To reach the dock, ships, gigantic of more than 300 meters long would need to cross the park several times a week.

“Significant adverse effects on beluga whales are anticipated by the increase of navigation,” says Fisheries and Oceans.

“If they speak out as clearly, certainly, it can have an impact,” said the biologist Alain Branchaud, director of the Society for parks and wilderness (CPAWS) Quebec.

“With an unfavourable opinion of a government agency, I don’t see how a project like this could move forward,” says Patrick Bonin of Greenpeace.

The national Energy Board has already granted to LNG Québec a permit to export 11 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year.

But the company, which has not been recalled by The Newspaper, must still pass through several stages before obtaining the approval of the governments. It must submit, by the end of the year its environmental impact study. He must also submit to the public consultation.

Species at risk

“The act species at risk act is severe enough. We do not have the right to destroy critical habitat. The acoustic characteristics are an integral part of the habitat, ” says Robert Michaud, scientific director of Group for research and education on marine mammals.

The beluga whale is classified as endangered since just one year. It would still be less than 900. As for the striped bass, it has almost disappeared in the 1990s and was the subject of a long rebuilding plan before you make a comeback in the river recently.

Mr. Michaud indicates that the opinion of Fisheries and Oceans has not always taken a back seat to economic interests. “This is not always the science that decides,” he said.

Profitability

The biologist reminds us that the Gros-Cacouna, another project of a lng port, got the green light from governments 10 years ago, in spite of the unfavorable opinion of Fisheries and Oceans.

It is ultimately the low price of gas has stalled the project. A decade later, another draft of the lng port has just been abandoned on the west coast, although he had all the governmental authorizations.

“The world gas market is facing a glut, particularly due to hydraulic fracturing. The shale gas flooding the market and beating down the price, ” says Philippe Dumont, president of the organization Boréalisation.

“An unfavourable opinion of Fisheries and Oceans, combined with economic factors and a lack of social acceptability, the whole put together, yes it could disrupt the project,” said Mr Dumont.

The gas is not clean energy, ” says a scientist

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Damon Matthews, Scientific

Investing in natural gas, as contained in the draft Energy Saguenay, is not a “step forward” in the fight against climate change, warn scientists and environmentalists.

The promoter of the project, LNG Quebec, says it plans to send resources that are more specific to countries where coal is still heavily used.

But one of the authors of the fourth and the fifth report of the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC), Damon Matthews, warns that the gas is far from green.

Methane

Natural gas is an emitter of CO2 less strong than coal or oil, but it emits a gas many times more potent than CO2, methane (CH4), he explained at a briefing of the scientific margin of the meeting of the IPCC that is taking place this week in Montreal.

The scientist indicates that, up to now, ” there is an under-estimate short-term impacts of greenhouse gases more powerful than CO2 “. To correct the shooting, the IPCC will be devoted to a study session these days.

For the biophysicist Marc Brullemans, a member of the scientific Collective on the issue of shale gas, Energy Saguenay ” is a project very similar to Energy, with the same consequences on the climate “.

Investment

The project represents an investment of more than $ 7 billion.

But “the budget [for the energy transition] is so limited that we need to focus on the energy options that really make it possible to stop our emissions,” said Mr Matthews.

Despite the scientific consensus, “the public policies of fight against climate change seem to favor the development of this fossil fuel energy,” said Christian Simard, director general Nature Québec.

“The gas is at the heart of the energy policy 2030 in Quebec, its development is funded by the green Fund and the Fund Capital Mine Hydrocarbons,” explained Carole Dupuis, coordinator of the Regroupement vigilance hydrocarbures Québec.

According to her, Quebec is let convince by the 138 lobbyists of Gaz Métro entered in the register of lobbyists.

Energy Saguenay in figures

• 8.9 billion dollars of planned investments
• 11 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas exported by year
• 650 km of new gas pipeline
• 300 permanent jobs