WATCH: A milestone for the proposed Kitimat LNG project. This one led by Chevron and Australian LNG giant Woodside. Keith Baldrey has the details.



A proposed LNG pipeline route has now been approved all First Nations groups whose land it would go through – but it will still be many years before shipments begin.

The Moricetown Band has reached an agreement with the provincial government, allowing work on the Chevron/Woodside Pacific Trails Pipeline to begin.

Under the terms of the deal, they will receive nearly $6 million over the course of the deal, including an immediate $998,000 payment.

“There had been opposition in this band to the project,” said Global News Legislative Bureau Chief Keith Baldrey. “There was a close vote and those felt it was better to partner with the project because it meant a substantial economic boost to people who had not been enjoying a good economic standing.”

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Moricetown was the 16th and final First Nations group to sign off on the pipeline, which will be 463 kilometres long, carrying natural gas from north of Prince George to a proposed plant in Kitimat.

“The journey has been challenging for us and hard on our community. Many of our members have been hurt through this process but we now have the resources to come back together and restore our collective strength,” said Moricetown Band Chief Barry Nikal in a statement.

Despite the agreement, an investment firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. said in a note this week that shipments won’t likely begin until 2023.