By Matt Simmons, The Narwhal, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

After years of construction, nearly 100 arrests, billions in government subsidies and dozens of environmental infractions, B.C.’s long-promised liquefied natural gas, or LNG, export industry is poised to start shipping overseas this year.

It’s been more than a decade since an idea to transform a little northern B.C. industry town into the first community in Canada to export LNG across the Pacific Ocean was just a twinkle in a corporate boardroom. This year, LNG Canada will send its first shipments from Kitimat, B.C., to Asia, marking Canada’s entry into the global LNG market.