No Ontario environmental assessment of Line 9 pipeline reversal: minister

TORONTO – Ontario’s governing Liberals say they won’t conduct their own environmental assessment of the Line 9 oil pipeline.

Enbridge Inc. (TSX:ENB) is proposing to reverse the flow of the pipeline between southwestern Ontario and Montreal to pump more Alberta crude through it.

The National Energy Board held public hearings on the proposal in Toronto and Montreal, which drew protests from hundreds of opponents.

The New Democrats want the provincial government to conduct their own environmental assessment.

But Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli says it’s a matter of federal jurisdiction and Ottawa will make the final decision on whether the project goes ahead.

He says Ontario intervened at the federal energy board hearings and said that public safety and environmental protection must be paramount.