Article content continued

“The regulatory process has been lengthier than we predicted, we can no longer predict the timeline of the process,” he said, adding he’s hoping the project could be complete in three to four years.

“It’s open-ended and outside our control.”

Last June, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) said the province needed to provide more details on possible effects on things such as surface water quality, migratory birds and worst-case scenarios of malfunctions such as a dam breach.

In the summer of 2018, the province said the project proposed for the area between Highway 8 and the Trans-Canada Highway and east of Highway 22 was 10 months behind schedule.

Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

About 17 more landowners have yet to settle with the province and, if they refuse overtures following the end of the review process, their property could be expropriated, said Mason.

Ryan Robinson, who once spoke forcefully for the group DontDamSpringbank.org, said the sale will allow his family to relocate within Rocky View County and continue their livelihood.

He noted heritage buildings on the land will be moved as part of the pact with the government.

“The agreement with Alberta significantly protects and preserves heritage ranch lands and buildings, some of which have been in our family for five generations,” Robinson said in a statement.

“The burden of living under the cloud of the proposed project has been heavy. We needed certainty for our children and grandchildren.”