The Mayor of Cold Lake is not happy after another appeal meeting has been announced on a Lakeland oil and gas project. Last Wednesday the city announced another appeal meeting with the Alberta Energy Regulators for the Imperial Oil-Cold Lake Expansion project would be held. This time the appeal was made on behalf of the Elizabeth Metis Settlement. Cold Lake Mayor Craig Copeland says city council only heard about the appeal through second-hand sources.
“We stumbled upon it. We didn’t get notified by anybody, which is a little concerning. The City of Cold Lake is home to about 70 percent of the Imperial workers.”
Now the city says it will be applying to join the meeting. The M.D of Bonnyville announced on their council meeting April 10th they would also be trying to get in on talks. Copeland says he’s hoping for an opportunity to speak about what the expansion means for jobs in the area.
“So we’re going to jump in. Someone has got to fight for the oil companies. We decided to get into this fray.”
Copeland says frustration has been mounting on the project since it was approved by the AER back in 2016. The city has until Tuesday to submit an application to join the meeting. The AER has yet to announce just when the appeal meeting will be.