While the Trans Mountain pipeline project got some good news this week, it’s now had some bad news too.

Earlier this week, the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed legal objections to Ottawa’s approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. The 3-0 decision rejected four challenges from First Nations in British Columbia to the approval saying there is no legal basis to interfere with the approval of the project.

However, at the end of the week, news surfaced that the cost of the project had ballooned 70 percent higher than estimates by Kinder Morgan just three years ago. The cost to build the trans mountain pipeline is now expected to reach $12.6 billion. That would bring the total cost to federal taxpayers to $16 billion.

Finance Minister Bill Morneau attributes some of the rise in price to safety and design changes to reach a higher environmental standard, as well as higher labour costs and another round of consultations with Indigenous communities that had been ordered.

Critics argue the new price tag could make it impossible for Ottawa to sell it to a new owner. However, Morneau says the skyrocketing cost for the pipeline expansion project will be worth it, as it will deliver $1.5-billion of available cash flow, making it commercially viable.