Quebec, November 20, 2006 - The first part of the public hearing regarding the Rabaska liquefied natural gas facility and related infrastructure by Gaz Métro Limited Partnership, Gaz de France and Enbridge Inc. will begin on December 6 at 7:00 p.m.
The BAPE Panel is comprised of Mr. Qussaï Samak (Chairman) and Mr. Jean Paré (Panel member). M. Jean-Philippe Waaub joins the BAPE Panel to form the Joint Review Panel.
The first part of the hearings will be held at the following locations:
Date
City
Wednesday December 6
at 7 :00 p.m.
Room B of ExpoCité Building
250 Wilfrid-Hamel Blvd. In Québec
Monday Deember 11
at 11:30 a.m.
CEGEP Lévis-Lauzon Auditorium
205 Monseigneur Bourget in Lévis
If the panel determines that it requires more time, the meetings will continue in the afternoon and evening, in the following days.
The Panel is holding the first part of the hearings in two locations after concluding that no single location was available on the south shore of Quebec City, taking into account the following requirements: an accessible location, space and logistics to ensure the participation of the citizens, the media, the proponents and their team, resource-persons invited to speak to the Panel as well as the Panel and its team. Rooms also had to be available over several consecutive days.
Canada-Quebec Agreement on Environmental Assessment Cooperation
Public review of the Rabaska liquefied natural gas facility and related infrastructure is carried out pursuant to the Canada-Quebec Agreement on Environmental Assessment Cooperation (the Agreement). The Agreement, among other things, provides for the possibility of establishing a joint review panel for the public review of a project. It is in this context that the Joint Review Panel was established and will carry out its work concurrently with the BAPE panel. The participation process in this public hearing remains similar to a public hearing conducted solely by the BAPE.
WEBCASTING OF THE SESSIONS
The sessions of the first part of the public hearings will be distributed in audio mode and live on the BAPE Internet site at the following address: www.bape.gouv.qc.ca. This distribution will allow those who wish to follow the hearings to do so.
A HEARING IN TWO PARTS
1. To get information
The public hearing will proceed in two parts. The first part will allow the public and the panel to obtain information on the project in general and on certain specific aspects in the presence of the proponent and invited resource-persons.
2. Provide comments
At the second part, which will begin on Monday, January 22, 2007, and for which more detailed information shall be forthcoming, the Panel will collect public opinions and observations. The Panel will then hear any person, organization, group or municipality that wishes to present its views, either in written form or by making an oral presentation.
Documentation on the project can be viewed at the BAPE office in Québec City, at the Bibliothèque centrale de l’Université du Québec à Montréal as well as at the following locations:
Bibliothèque Pierre-Georges-Roy, 7, rue Monseigneur-Gosselin, Lévis;
bibliothèque Luc-Lacourcière, 64, chemin du Domaine, Beaumont;
bibliothèque Albert-Rousseau, 711, avenue Albert-Rousseau, Saint-Étienne;
bibliothèque Anne-Marie-Filteau, 220, route du Pont, Saint-Nicolas;
municipalité de Saint-Laurent-de-l’Île-d’Orléans, 1430, chemin Royal, Saint-Laurent-de-l’Île-d’Orléans;
bibliothèque Gabrielle-Roy, 350, rue Saint-Joseph Est, Québec.
For more information on the project, please visit the BAPE Internet site at www.bape.gouv.qc.ca, and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Registry, reference number 04-05-3971.
To obtain more information, please contact Mrs. Josée Primeau, Panel Secretariat Coordinator, by phone at 418 643-7447 or, toll free, at 1 800 463-4732, extension 421. You can also e-mail the Joint Review Panel at the following address: rabaska@bape.gouv.qc.ca.
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Media information:
Nicholas Girard, Senior Communications Advisor
613-957-0396
Nicholas.Girard@ceaa-acee.gc.ca
Jean-Sébastien Fillion, Communications Advisor
418 643-7447 or 1 800 463-4732, extension 538
rabaska@bape.gouv.qc.ca
