This document discusses opposition to the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project in Northern BC from First Nations groups and environmentalists. It notes that Enbridge has over 60 spills per year on its pipelines elsewhere and recently faced lawsuits over spills. Critics argue a spill from the proposed pipeline could devastate salmon populations and the livelihoods of coastal communities, as it would cross over 700 waterways. First Nations in particular reject the project, citing concerns about impacts to their traditional lands and waters. Protests against the project have drawn hundreds of people. The pipeline proposal still requires federal approval.
2. In 2009 Enbridge Northern gateway pipelines
proposed a 1170 km Pipeline from
Bruderhiem to Kitimat BC
3. Enbridge
• Enbridge has been building Pipelines in North
America for over 60 years.
• Operate largest pipeline system in North
America
• Moves more then 2 million barrels of oil per
day.
4. The proposed pipeline would move 700,000
barrels a day
The pipeline would move 6 barrels of oil a
second, a spill could fill an Olympic sized
swimming pool in 43 minutes (2,500,000
litres)
5. Enbridge has 60-70 spills per year on all its
pipelines. Most spills are said to occur in the
pump house
Enbridge is currently in the process of being
sued by the state of Illinois for a spill that
happened in September of this year
A larger spill occurred in southern Michigan two
months prior spilling 800,000 gallons into
Kalamazoo River.
6. The pipeline would cross the upper Fraser,
Skeena and Kitimat watersheds, posing an
issue for the 5 species of salmon that use the
area for spawning grounds.
In total the Pipeline would cross 773
watercourses.
7. If an oil spill occurred, oil would enter a river
system
Light oil would accumulate on the surface and
spread downstream
Heavier oil would sink and get trapped in
spawning gravel
8. First Nations groups, including the Haida,
Metlakatla, Heiltsuk, Gitga’at, Kitasoo and
Wuikinuxv Nation are all opposed to the
pipeline
In 2009 Enbridge executives told coastal first
nations “if all first nations within this
geographic region didn’t support the pipeline
they would stop the project”
9. Pipeline spills are not the only concern.
A super tanker terminal would need to be built
in Kitimat.
BC has a tanker exclusion zone keeping ships
moving between Alaska and the rest of the US
off the BC coast line.
10. Kitimat sits at the end of Douglas channel
Locals believe that with the size of the tankers
and the narrowness of some of the turns of
Douglas Channel a spill would be inevitable.
Turning radius of a supertanker- 1200-1500
meters
11. On March 24th, First Nations from BC and
Alberta along with environmentalists came
out in large numbers to the Enbridge office in
Vancouver to oppose the pipeline.
March 24th, 2010 was the 21st anniversary of the
Exxon Valdez Oil spill in Alaska.
12. An Oil spill would devastate populations of
whales, wolves, bears and birds a five year
study by Raincoast Conservation concluded.
The destruction of salmon from an oil spill on
BC’s coast would erase a large part of first
nations culture as well as destroying
thousands of jobs in BC’s fishing industry.
13. Vicky Husband, receiver of the Order of Canada
and the Order of BC spoke out about the
pipeline in congruence with the Union of BC
Indian Chiefs Saying “Canada’s conservation
community is unanimous in its opposition to
the pipeline and to any tanker traffic on our
coast.”
14. The creation of the pipeline and Tanker terminal
would cause an expansion of the tarsands
moving Canada in the wrong direction from
renewable energy.
July 28th 2010, Four Greenpeace activists locked
themselves to the doors of Enbridge's
Vancouver offices. All four were arrested.
15. Hundreds of locals gathered in Kitimat on
August 31st to protest the Pipeline outside of
the Riverlodge Recreation center.
The first public meeting with the Federal Joint
Review panel was held inside.
16. On September 15th,2010 four hundred people
marched through downtown Terrace.
• Protestors carried signs, drummed and
chanted together.
• They stated concerns of climate change,
Tarsand expansion, Oil spills and First Nations
land titles.
17. A community meeting was held in Burns lake in
September with a panel from Enbridge
Northern Gateway Pipelines
Important questions were left unanswered such
as “If the project is allowed to go ahead and
First Nations say no, will you go ahead with
the pipeline?”
Locals left the meeting unsatisfied with the
answers they received and answers they
didn’t.
