An executive at Enbridge confirmed that the federal cabinet will make a decision on the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline over British Columbia, sometime in mid-2014.

Vern Yu, Senior Vice President of Enbridge, said that he expected challenges to this project to set this date back to early 2015.

According to Al Monaco, CEO, Enbridge has done all it can to improve relations with the communities affected and believes the construction of this project is “…important to Canada.”

ForestEthics, a conservation group, opposes the building of the Northern Gateway pipeline, and the Trans Mountain pipeline, both of which run along the ocean bed. They are concerned that the Pacific Northwest has become a large shipping lane for gas, coal and oil, and that it would impact the marine environment negatively.

Many celebrities have also backed the campaign against building the Keystone XL pipeline, a project that would see large amounts of oil-sands bitumen being moved from Alberta to the Gulf Coast.

In a few months President Barack Obama will make a final decision on Keystone, and focus is now beginning to shift towards the B.C. pipeline and the impact it has.

Enbridge officials have met with over a dozen community leaders who live along the route of the pipeline. Additionally, First Nations that have opposed the pipeline, met with federal officials to put forward their concerns. A federal panel will make a decision on the Northern Gateway by the end of the year.

If both the Northern Gateway and Trans Mountain pipelines are given the green light, estimates suggest that this will increase the amount of oil running along the Pacific coast. It would equate to adding another 700 tankers worth of oil passing through the coast.