NEWS RELEASE
April 10, 2019
For immediate release

Cold Lake, AB – Cold Lake City Council voted to apply to have its voice heard at an upcoming Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) hearing for Imperial’s planned Cold Lake Expansion Project.

“There’s a growing sense of helplessness in the community,” Mayor Craig Copeland said. “Here we have a project that has been jumping through regulatory approvals since 2016. We had heard it was finally approved, and now another hearing is announced. There are lots of people in Cold Lake who want to get back to work, but the regulatory process seems endless. It’s time for all levels of government to take meaningful action if we want our energy sector to recover.”

Early this month, AER published a notice of hearing for the Cold Lake Expansion Project, which is located about 23 kilometres northwest of the City of Cold Lake. Initial application for the project was filed on March 10, 2016 and was approved on August 14, 2018. The Elizabeth Métis Settlement requested a regulatory appeal on September 12, 2018.

The request for appeal was granted on December 20, 2018.

“There were billions of dollars in investment lined up for our area and we have not seen a single shovel hit the ground,” Copeland said. “We have heard lots of talk about energy projects, but very little action.”

The City of Cold Lake will submit its application to join the AER hearing by the April 16, 2019 deadline.

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