Groups sue to block pipeline in Saint John park

Friends of Rockwood Park has teamed up with Sierra Legal to launch a lawsuit over a natural gas pipeline that's due to be built throughthe park in central Saint John.

The community groupand Sierra Legal, a Vancouver-based environmental organization, held a news conference Wednesday to say they're going after pipeline company Emera Inc. as well as the National Energy Board and other federal agencies.

The aim of the lawsuit is to prevent government agencies from issuing the permits and approvals that would allow the pipeline, which wouldrun through from the Canaport Liquefied Natural Gas Terminal at Mispec Point to the U.S. border.

The groups say the National Energy Board didn't do what it was supposed to in its environmental review, which was released on May 31.

"We allege that the NEB review panel failed to do what was perhaps the most fundamental task it had been charged with, and that most fundamental task was considering, as an alternative to the route through Rockwood Park, an alternative marine route through Saint John harbour," said Sierra Legal lawyer Lara Tessaro.

The Friends of Rockwood Park say they collected 15,000 signatures from people in Saint John who support a marine route.

The company has said that alternative wouldn't work because of the tides, the fog and the cost.

Saint John Mayor Norm MacFarlane has said he thinks the pipeline will help cement the city's position as an energy hub. He also saidthe majority of people in the city are in favour of the pipeline and the jobs that it will create.

The two groups say they are concerned about the financial implications if they lose their lawsuit, but they're doing it anyway.

A court date hasn't been set.