Editor:
Are you aware that Enbridge is planning to trench a 36” diameter pipeline containing crude oil close to Houston? This pipeline would run from Bruderheim Alberta to Kitimat B.C. through the Rocky and Coast Mountain Ranges, cross hundreds of streams in the Morice-Bulkley watershed alone, and end up at the Pacific Ocean. The crude oil would then be transported by oil tanker through the Douglas Channel and Pacific Ocean to refineries in Pacific Rim countries.
The pipelines – parallel to the crude oil would be a line containing condensate – would cross Buck Creek, follow the Morice River valley, cross the Morice River near the Morice-West Bridge, and run parallel to Gosnell Creek.
Oil spills are inevitable at some point. The National Energy Board found that large diameter oil pipelines fail from corrosion and stress after 28 years on average. A pipeline running through areas at risk of landslides and other unpredictables is at greater risk.
Examples of recent spills include the July 2010 Enbridge pipeline spill of 4 million litres of crude oil into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan. Also one million litres of petroleum spilled into the Pine River upstream of Chetwynd, causing a massive fish kill that extended for over 20 km downstream. Despite $30 million spent in clean-up efforts, the river is still not oil-free.
The primary job creation from this pipeline project will be for overseas refinery workers, oil tanker crews, existing pipeline construction crews, and, quite possibly and eventually, oil spill cleanup crews. The ongoing jobs will be in Pacific Rim refineries and tankers with a nominal number of pipeline monitoring staff – primarily in Alberta.
They are not creating jobs; they are exporting them – along with our natural resources. By allowing this pipeline to go through we would be opening up the possibility of future pipelines using the same route, further endangering our salmon spawning habitat, our pristine wilderness, and the sustenance of our existence.
You can find out more about participating in the Joint Review Panel process at www.gatewaypanel.review.gc.ca under “What’s New” or phone 1-866-582-1844.
You can submit a letter of comment or make an oral statement to the Review Panel. You can write your Mayor, MP, MLA, and Prime Minister. You can also join folks like the Friends of Wild Salmon and/or the Friends of Morice-Bulkley in their fight to protect our rivers and streams.
Please join the growing force of people objecting to this ludicrous proposal.
Carlie Kearns
Houston, B.C.
