City of Prince Rupert targets Watson Island for LNG development

The latest rebirth of the industrial site at Watson Island may involve the current rush towards LNG development, as the City of Prince Rupert revealed some background into discussion that it has been holding with a company now known as Watson Island LNG Corporation.

In a press release from Wednesday, the City reviewed the nature of their discussions that led to the exclusivity agreement with WILNG, that would see the Watson Island site transformed into a small LNG export terminal.

"After many months of investigation Council believes the City has found a company with the vision for Watson Island that will bring jobs and a substantial new economy to Prince Rupert,” ... “We recognize the City has gone down this road before, however, we have never given up on our vision to repurpose Watson Island and get it back on the tax-roll. We are optimistic this project will be an economic generator that will bolster the City and create new jobs in the region.” -- Mayor Jack Mussallem on behalf of Prince Rupert City Council on the theme of development of Watson Island as an LNG export terminal.

As part of the announcement, the City also outlined how they are proceeding with the decommissioning of the old Pulp mill and are also working to obtain provincial assistance for the removal of industrial chemicals and managing a number of other environmentally dangerous substances.

Little background was provided on Wednesday about the would be developer of the export terminal at Watson Island, with few details revealed as to financial backing,  where the required natural gas would be accessed from and what kind of client base has been solicited for export of LNG.

In a brief comment as part of the City's announcement , Mr. Ed Neibauer, the Director of WINLG observed as to the hope of his company to bring the plans to fruition.

“We are looking forward to establishing good working relationships with the community, First Nations and regulators to bring the company’s development plans to fruition.” -- Mr. Ed Neibauer, Director of WILNG

Still to be resolved for the city and no doubt of interest to WILNG officials will be the status of the ongoing litigation between the City and the Watson Island Development Corporation, a process that is still apparently in front of the courts and has prevented the City from selling the lands.

In their announcement, the City offered up little on the theme of the current state of those legal proceedings, other than to advise that the City continues to work to have the litigation resolved as quickly as possible.

The newest entry into the percolating LNG scene in Prince Rupert, joins six other high profile projects currently under consideration for the area.

Including a project proposed for within the newly expanded municipal boundary at Tuck Inlet, a proposal that the City has expressed much interest in over the last few weeks.

You can review the full background to the announcement from this link to the City of Prince Rupert website.

For a review of all of the proposals currently under consideration for the North Coast see our archive page.