VANCOUVER

First Nation along Northern Gateway route rejects plan

The Canadian Press Published Friday, April 11, 2014 8:08PM PDT Last Updated Friday, April 11, 2014 8:11PM PDT

Douglas Channel, the proposed termination point for an oil pipeline in the Enbridge Northern Gateway Project, is pictured in an aerial view in Kitimat, B.C., on Jan. 10, 2012. (Darryl Dyck / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

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FORT ST. JAMES, B.C. - A group of First Nations with territory covering a quarter of the route for the proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline has gathered in central British Columbia today to officially reject the project.

Representatives of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, the National Energy Board and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans are at the meeting in Fort St. James with the Yinka Dene (yink-AH' DEN-ay).

The First Nation says the decision by its four clans marks the end of negotiations with the federal government or Calgary-based Enbridge.

The pipeline project faces a major hurdle in getting First Nations on board but behind the scenes negotiations have continued.

The Yinka Dene say this is their decision is final.

A panel approved the pipeline project, but only if 209 conditions are met, and the federal government is expected to release its final decision later this year.