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In a statement, Quebec Environment Minister David Heurtel said TransCanada had filed a project notice agreeing to an environmental impact study, prompting the province to suspend its efforts to get a permanent injunction against the company.

Quebec will completely withdraw its injunction application once the study is approved, the minister said.

TransCanada spokesman Tim Duboyce said the company had initially been “quite perplexed” by Quebec’s request in early March to submit to provincial environmental law because Energy East is subject to federal regulations.

“We will provide the environmental impact assessment in the form they are looking for in addition to a comprehensive one that has already been filed with the federal regulator the National Energy Board,” Duboyce said.

Quebec filed a motion seeking an injunction against the pipeline in early March to ensure the project complied with provincial environmental law, saying it acted after TransCanada ignored two letters in 2014 requesting an evaluation.

Greenpeace campaigner Keith Stewart said the pipeline would now undergo a much more detailed review process.

“The odds of this getting built just went down a couple of notches and the scrutiny that it’s going to be subject to went up several notches,” Stewart said.

© Thomson Reuters 2016