Dear Sir:
TransCanada Pipelines and Spectra Energy, plan to build pipelines to transport natural gas from the fracking grounds of northeastern BC, to LNG plants on the west coast. Pipelines would pass though the Kispiox Valley, following different routes, on to Cranberry Junction and westward.
Each of the three 48-inch diameter pipes (Spectra proposes two), would have the capacity to move nearly 4 billion cubic feet of gas per day, all for export. This would be more than twenty times the province’s current domestic use. The National Energy Board reports: natural gas pipelines of smaller diameter, but of similar length, experience one operational leak annually, and one catastrophic failure every 7 years.
Roads would parallel each pipeline’s entire length. A large swath would be cleared and sprayed to prevent vegetative growth. There would be over 1300 stream and river crossings on each route, including the Babine, Skeena, and Kispiox. Construction crews would temporarily dam and divert many salmon bearing streams. Spectra Energy has stated there would be no construction jobs for locals – zero.
Proponents ensure us that these pipelines would be exclusively for natural gas. At the moment, people in eastern Canada are outraged and fighting TransCanada’s plan to convert a major natural gas pipeline system from gas to oil. In Alberta, oil pipeline ruptures occur on average twice a day. Only the larger ones require reporting.
Is this what we collectively want for our territories, our lands, and our salmon? Time to pipe up before the pipe is laid down.
Marnie Pole,
Kispiox Valley
