Police patrol Northern Gateway hearings in Victoria

Uniformed police officers are stationed at the Victoria hotel where oral presentations on the Northern Gateway pipeline started Friday.

Plainclothes security officials are also in the meeting room where the chairwoman of the environmental review of the pipeline, Sheila Leggett, says she wants respectful and orderly hearings.

Members of the public who want to observe the hearings must gather at a second hotel, located about three kilometres away, to view them remotely, according to spokesperson Annie Roy.

"Consideringthe history of protests around the project in Victoria and Vancouver, the panel took a pro-active approach... The panel decided that that would be the best format in order to avoid disruptions in the hearing room," Roy said.

Two police officers are also at that hotel.

About 280 people have signed up to speak to the joint panel during its seven days of hearings in Victoria.

The oral presentations will continue in Vancouver during the second half of the month.

Previous protests havetargeted MLA's officesand the legislature in Victoria, butthepanel did cancel hearings in Bella Bellaafter they were met by protesters at the airport in April.

Fears unfounded, says pipelineopponent

Aspokesperson for the Dogwood Initiative, an environmental organization that opposes the project, said the panel's fears are unfounded.

Emma Gilchrist says protestorshave not disrupted any proceedings in the past, and they are unlikely to start by interrupting the general public's first chance to address the panel.

"I don't see anybody really having an interest in disrupting the voices of average citizens who have taken this step to put their voice on the record."

Gilchrist is concerned having a separate venue will lower public interest.

"It's kind of like the difference between watching live theatre and watching it on a screen somewhere."

Although protesters did not interrupt the proceedings, about 100opponentsheld a smallrally outside of the hearingsat the Delta Pointe Resort in Victoria.

The proposed pipelinewould transport diluted bitumen from the Alberta oil sands across northern B.C. to a tanker port planned for Kitimat, B.C. Opponents argue the risk of an oil leak on land or a tanker spill off the coast is too great.