Editor: The letter from Ms. Stendie (The Times, Aug. 12) is again one lacking in facts.
The line break in Alberta was a slurry line that carried liquids to the settling pond, on private land with no residents on or near the leak. To bring in Kalamazoo is, at best, a very long reach for comparison.
Pipelines do leak, not inherently, but through accidents by workers not employed and trained by the line owners. To roll Kinder Morgan into the Kalamazoo leak is nothing more than sensationalism.
The line was built in the ’60s, and owned and maintained by numerous companies. It was Kinder Morgan’s misfortune to own this line when it broke.
To link any line built 40-plus years ago with today’s technology is scare mongering. If one is concerned by any line construction they should investigate today’s systems and procedures .
Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) departments have enormous powers to insure the lines are built to exacting Canadian standards — some of the stiffest in the world.
I spent over 40 years in and out of Fort McMurray, and on pipelines across Canada. I do not and have never suffered ill health from the supposed carcinogenic off-gases.
Terry Brenan
Aldergrove
