Merrickville-Wolford Community Expansion Project

Project updates

• Enbridge Gas is committed to the health and safety of the public and its employees.
• Materials from the Virtual Information Session are available under the Project Consultation tab.

Project calendar

The tasks and timelines for the project are presented below:

Project consultation

Indigenous and community engagement

For this Project, the collective input from Indigenous communities, government agencies, municipalities, stakeholders, the public and landowners play an integral role in the route and site selection process.

Prior to construction, public input is obtained to ensure that the community is advised of the proposed project, and to involve the public in the decision-making process. Public consultation is a key component of the environmental report.

By providing the public with an opportunity to receive information about the project, the consultation program helps identify and address stakeholder concerns, and have meaningful participation into the project review and development process.

Public input from the virtual and in-person information sessions will be used to help finalize the project and mitigation plans to be implemented during construction.

Once the leave to construct (LTC) application is made to the OEB, any party with an interest in the Project, including members of the public, has an opportunity to participate in the process.

Public notification

Newspaper advertisements

The notice of study commencement and in-person information session for the project will appear in Smith’s Falls Record News and Kemptville Advance on Aug. 24 and 31, 2023.

Information sessions

Indigenous consultation and stakeholder engagement is an important part of this study. Members of Indigenous communities, the public, regulatory agencies, and other stakeholders were invited to attend the Information Session to review the project and provide comments. The in-person information session was held at the Merrickville Memorial Community Recreation Centre on Sept. 6, 2023.

The virtual information session was available from Sept. 4, 2023, till Sept. 17, 2023.

Materials from the Virtual Information Session can be viewed below:

• Presentation slides
• Virtual information session script

We sought feedback and comments on the proposed project until Oct. 3, 2023. Comments received up to and including Oct. 3, 2023 will be included in the environmental report for the project.

Regulatory information

The Merrickville-Wolford Community Expansion Project is regulated by the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), an independent government agency that regulates the electricity and natural gas sectors. After a public review and hearing, the OEB will be able to approve our application. In this section, you can review all regulatory files about the project.

Environment report

In accordance with the OEB's “Environmental Guidelines for the Location, Construction and Operation of Hydrocarbon Pipeline and Facilities in Ontario, 7th Edition 2016”, Enbridge Gas retained the services of Dillon Consulting, an independent environmental consultant, to complete an environmental assessment for the proposed project.

The purpose of the environmental assessment is to: identify any potential impacts of the proposed project on the social, economic, and natural environments; identify local or provincial concerns regarding the proposed project; determine preferred routing of the pipeline segments; gather input from agencies, stakeholders, First Nations and Métis, affected landowners, and the public. As well, it will recommend mitigation measures to limit impacts on the social, economic, and natural environments. It is important to minimize potential negative impacts of the proposed natural gas distribution pipelines and associated facilities on the environment. The data, analysis and results of the environmental assessment will be detailed in an environmental report.

Once completed, the environmental report will be available to review here.

Leave to Construct application

In February 2024, Enbridge Gas plans to file a Leave to Construct application with the OEB for approval to construct approximately 5 km of a combination steel and polyethylene pipeline to supply the community of Merrickville-Wolford with natural gas.

Once completed, the Leave to Construct application will be available to review here.