Canada

Photo: Castanet Staff

Creative artwork from the recent protest about the hearings in Kelowna.

Questions about an oil-spill plan during a worst-case scenario involving a proposed pipeline are at the centre of federal review hearings in Prince Rupert.

The province of British Columbia is asking a panel of Enbridge experts about how they've calculated their marine oil spill plan.

The BC government says a world-class plan is a condition of approval, but the panel is hearing that world class is in the eye of the beholder.

Enbridge consultant Owen McHugh says the best possible plan is one put together for the specific project and terrain, and that's what the company has done for the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.

He says Enbridge has gone well beyond the requirements under Canadian law in promising a trained spill response team.

The pipeline would deliver crude from the Alberta oil sands to a tanker port in Kitimat.