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By Camille Bains

A lawyer representing British Columbia in its fight against the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion says the federal cabinet’s approval of the project is “lopsided” because it put Alberta’s economic needs ahead of B.C.’s concerns about oil spills.

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Thomas Berger said outside the Federal Court of Appeal on Thursday that the $7.4-billion project would disproportionately impact the interests of B.C. residents in the event of a marine spill of diluted bitumen.

While Alberta would get the lion’s share of benefits through development of its oil resources and access to Pacific Rim markets, B.C. would bear the entire environmental risk, he told The Canadian Press in an interview.

In its approval of the project last November, the governor in council breached its statutory duty to provide reasons for deciding it was not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects, Berger said on behalf of the attorney general of B.C., which is an intervener in the case.