Dear sir,
The following is a response to comments by Colin Kinsley, Chairman of the Northern Gateway Alliance, (Sentinel, April 20).
Enbridge had spent $150 million so far on making sure the project is done right.
Fact: The vast majority of the money is spent on P.R. firms, public promotions, etc. There is money spent on looking at and comparing this region to Mongstad in Norway and other European locations which are not comparable to our situation.
Also, money is spent to develop and upgrade a Termpol study. Termpol looks at shipping routes, safety, etc.
Problem: The public cannot look at the document; only certain government agencies and groups approved by them can.
The US does not export any oil.
Even Canada imports gasoline and other oil products from the US.
“Crude refineries supplied all of Canada’s needs so there is not domestic demand beyond that.”
Fact: Canada imports a lot of crude from the Middle East and probably other locations for eastern and central Canada.
Exporting jobs when there are ten thousands of Canadian working in some capacity in the oil sands patch.
This one is correct. In fact, there are so many jobs that there are not enough affordable accommodations, particularly for the lower paid jobs at A & W etc. Therefore, a lot of employees travel vast distances in the biggest most gas guzzling trucks available.
So why rush expansion!? There could be a multiple of better paying refinery jobs which are being exported.
Government revenues in the tens of billions of dollars…
If there is that much revenue from the Tar Sands, why is government pumping billions of taxpayers dollars into upgrading and expansion?
When the price of oil was in the $20 plus range, royalties (under Premier Lougheed) were $3 per barrel; as the price rose the royalties were reduced to $2 per barrel. When the oil price rose dramatically and the government wanted the revenue brought back to $3/barrel, the oil industry objected and got away with it.
No spill in Canadian regulated pipes for more than 20 years because the steel is made differently.
a) Between 2002 and 2010 there were a total of 468 spills in Alberta.
b) As to steel, I started my working life becoming a millwright. Among other metals I cut, welded (by flame and arc), forged, hardened, annealed, formed etc. steel.
Later in life as a designer, I selected steel and steel alloys for special application – machine parts, machinability, weldability etc, – so do not try to pull one over on us on that aspect.
The world has changed for tankers…
We do not need and want a tanker spill to prove a point. We have had a few “accidents” directly on the proposed tanker route:
1) In Caamano Sound an Alcan ore carrier ran onto a reef, slicing the bow open. I have seen the result.
2) The Queen Of The North smacked into Gill Island and sank. Passenger liners on water and in the air are normally more tightly regulated than carriers of goods.
3) A freighter ran aground near the Eurocan dock. Fortunately, at low tide: tugs were able to pull it off without damage.
4) The Petersfield, a 40,000 tonne freighter, lost all steering in Douglas Channel and smashed into the shoreline with severe damage.
Is any of this what we can afford with a supertanker carrying 525,000 barrels of oil?
…fished Douglas Channel for the past 30 years …
But I sailed with lots of time to study the Northern Pilot (hydrographic publication) describing everything you might encounter in our water, even writings by Capt. Vancouver.
I studied the landscape and noticed the new land slides most every year. The earth around here is alive.
Finally, “How many jobs have you (Cullen) brought to the region?”
Well, let me reverse that one. How many jobs have your “super right wing partners” destroyed in this region?
Several companies, along with resources. have been sold to foreign corporations thereby exporting many existing and potential jobs (e.g by log exports).
Sincerely,
Dieter Wagner,
Kitimat
