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B.C., Nisga'a sign pipeline deal

The Nisga'a Nation says it will benefit from liquefied natural gas development

The Nisga'a Nation is to receive $1 million immediately and potentially millions more should a pipeline be built that would carry natural gas from northeastern B.C. to a planned liquefied natural gas plant near Prince Rupert.

Details of the benefits agreement with the provincial government were announced in Victoria this morning, Nov. 20.

That first $1 million follows the signing of the agreement and is to be followed by $2.5 million should a subsidiary of TransCanada pipelines start construction and another $2.5 million when gas starts to flow through the pipeline.

The money reflects the passage of the planned pipeline through Nisga'a lands and is in addition to a separate benefits agreement signed earlier this month between the Nisga'a Nation and TransCanada subsidiary Prince Rupert Gas Transmission.

The project features a 48-inch pipeline that is to feed a plant being planned by Malaysian energy giant Petronas at a location on Lelu Island near Prince Rupert.

And the Nisga'a are also to receive a share, as of yet undetermined, of $10 million a year the provincial government says it wants to pay First Nations along the entire pipeline route.

Petronas says it anticipates making a final investment decision by the end of the year.