Wood projects were once back in the Alberta government’s crosshairs after a federal judge said in January that he couldn’t rule out the possibility of a court proceeding.
However, Alberta Environment Minister Shannon Phillips said on Wednesday the province has been working with federal officials to come up with a solution to the issue.
The province said the issue has not yet been resolved and the province is not commenting further on the matter.
Phillips said Alberta has not been able to come to an agreement with the federal government on the issue and that they are working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Canadian Department of Energy and Mines (Cenamics) to resolve it.
The Alberta government said the federal agency will be providing more than $10 million in support to the province to help with projects and the delivery of services.
Phillipp said the province continues to work with federal agencies to bring projects back to life, but the timeline for the process has not changed.
The issue arose after Alberta lost the project to a private contractor in 2008, and then in 2011 the government lost the contract to the Wood Buffalo Corporation to build the project.
A court ruling that ordered the company to cease construction in 2017, was overturned by a federal court in June.
In a statement, Phillips said the Alberta Government remains committed to the creation of jobs and economic growth for Albertans.
“The Alberta Government has been actively engaged with federal, provincial and territorial partners to explore opportunities to bring back Wood Buffalo to the state, but we have not reached a settlement,” Phillips said.
The provincial government said a provincial review board has recommended the government move ahead with the project as it continues to explore other options.
“There are no timelines or additional funding to bring the project back to the site, and we will be engaging with the Canadian and US governments in the coming weeks,” Phillips wrote.
The federal government has said in recent months that it intends to close the province’s timber industry, but that it will not be closing the province entirely.
Phillip said Wednesday the government is continuing to work closely with federal and provincial partners to address the issue, including the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Phillis also said the provincial government continues to make progress on the project, and is moving ahead with a second round of projects to bring it back online.