NEB Energy East panelists quit review board after facing conflict scandal

The National Energy Board says all three Energy East reviewers have recused themselves from future hearings, following complaints that two members met privately with a TransCanada consultant previous year.

The members have also pledged not to discuss the application with other board members or board staff.

The decision by the panelists to recuse themselves comes after the agency was hit by a conflict-of-interest scandal triggered by a National Observer report.

Critics want two members to quit the NEB after it was revealed that the pair had privately discussed the project previous year with former Quebec Premier Charest, who was working for TRP as a consultant at the time.

Public hearings into TransCanada’s proposed 4,600-kilometre oil pipeline from Alberta to New Brunswick have been suspended following protests in Montreal and revelations that a TransCanada (TSX:TRP) representative met privately past year with two of the three panellists examining the pipeline bid.

The news comes about two weeks after hearings in Montreal over the Energy East Pipeline were cancelled. It is facing opposition from several of those communities. The pipeline is created to carry 1.1 million barrels per day of crude from Alberta’s oil sands to Canada’s east coast.

Earlier, Natural Resources Minister Jim Carr said its up to the NEB to sort out the allegations on its own.

TransCanada spokesman Tim Duboyce said the NEB hearings are an important way to help Canadians better understand the $15.7-billion project.

They argued the government should shelve both the Energy East hearings and a recently completed NEB review of the proposed expansion of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline in British Columbia, pending a new review process.

“We look forward to the sessions resuming and a respectful and constructive dialogue with Canadians about Energy East”, said Duboyce.