Federal court dismisses environmental groups' appeal to overturn Bay du Nord approval

A legal challenge to appealthe federal government's approval of the Bay du Nordoffshore oil project has been dismissed in Federal Court.

The challenge is ledby environmental group Ecojustice, Quebec environmentalnon-profit quiterreand the Sierra Club Canada Foundation, which have all called for the project to be shelved in the name of the climate crisis.

Norwegian oil giantEquinor and its partners plan to develop the oilfield at the Flemish Pass, about 500 kilometres east of St. John's, with drilling to go more than a kilometre underwater.

While announcing its approval, federalEnvironment and Climate Change Minister StevenGuilbeaultsaid the projectwould not have significant adverse environmental effects because ofmitigation measures that will be in place.

The groups say the project's approval went against the advice of climate scientists around the world, failed to consider downstream greenhouse gas emissions and was done without proper consultation with Mi'gmawe'l Tplu'taqnnInc., which represents eight Mi'kmaw communities in New Brunswick.

But Judge Russel Zinnfound Tuesday that the applicants failed to meet the burden of establishing thatGuilbeaultdidn't take downstream greenhouse gas emissions into account, and that MTI had multiple opportunities to raise itsconcerns with the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.

Zinn wrote that his role was to determine whether the government's decision was reasonable, not whether it was right. He noted that Canadian regulators have repeatedly found that later greenhouse gas emissions in this case, the emissions that would be created onceoil from the project is burned don't need to be included in environmental assessments.

Gretchen Fitzgerald, Sierra Club's national programs director, said the group is disappointed by the ruling.

"I will say I'm pretty shaken that the case was necessary, that the federal government would approve a project that's not in line with our climate commitments, and that was, you know, also threatening marine life," Fitzgerald saidTuesday.

"The impacts of this project on our ability to stay within safe climate limits needed to be confronted, and they still will be inside or outside of court. I'm more convinced than ever that we have to keep fighting the approval of this project down the road."

Equinor has put theprojecton hold for up to three years, citing challenging market conditions and the rising cost of construction.

In a statementemailed to CBC News on Tuesday, Equinor's head of public affairs said the company welcomed the outcome.

"Bay du Nord is an important project in Equinor's portfolio andour current focus is to optimize the development following a recent internal postponement decision," the statement reads.

Fitzgerald argued the project will add more fuel to an already critical situation, at a time when the world is already moving away from oil.

"I'm based in Halifax. We feel very much at risk from climate change after the last few weeks of forest fires," she said.

"The more you pump out new oil and burn it and put it into the atmosphere, you are increasing the risk of things like that. It seems so unwise that we're continuing to place our bets on these risky projects."

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