3-year water licence granted to Imperial Oil in Norman Wells, N.W.T.

The federal government approved a three-year water licence for Imperial Oil's operations in Norman Wells, N.W.T., last week. 

The Sahtú Land and Water Board recommended the company be given the temporary licence to allow for environmental assessments for a longer-term licence renewal and for its plan to replace the damaged Line 490 pipeline to take place. 

Northern Affairs Minister Gary Anandasangaree signed off on that recommendation in a letter filed to the board's registry on Friday. 

In a letter explaining its recommendation that was also posted to the registry that day, the board said the only alternative to granting the renewal was to allow the licence to expire — requiring Imperial Oil to carry out an emergency shutdown.

The board said that option would have been "unacceptable" and that it would have created environmental risks and not been within the public's interest. 

It also said that it chose the length of the renewal because it would be enough time for a two-year environmental assessment to take place as well as a regulatory proceeding and public hearing which could take another year. 

Although Sahtú Secretariat Incorporated and the federal and territorial governments supported the length of the renewal, the K'ahsho Got'ine Committee said that it would be "longer than necessary to mitigate the risks of a shut-in," and recommended that the licence have a shorter term. 

Imperial Oil had already been granted a 60-day extension to its water licence — moving its expiry from early March to early May.

The fact that Imperial Oil's water licence and its operations licence from the Canada Energy Regulator were up for renewal is part of what allowed Sahtú Secretariat Incorporated to trigger an environmental assessment of its Norman Wells facility in the first place. 

There's a separate environmental assessment underway for Imperial's plans to replace a damaged pipeline, called Line 490. The company has also said it will initiate a third environmental assessment for its closure plans.