A recent letter made no mention of recent pipeline failures including Enbridge’s infamous 2010 spill in Michigan. One million gallons of dirty oil and raw bitumen was dumped in the Kalamazoo River.
This spill affected the health of 350 people and 4,000 animals while permanently displacing residents of the Kalamazoo River. This $765 million clean up evicted many long-term residents and irreversible destruction of the environment. In 2007 and 2010 Enbridge had two pipeline failures in Alberta that still have not been cleaned up. Three First Nations communities lost all their drinking water and supplies plus fishing was destroyed forever in the river and lake.
The Valdez light oil spill 25 years ago is still not cleaned up, so how long will it take Enbridge to clean up Alberta’s oil? There is no technology today that can clean up dirty oil spills. Analysts say producers are losing $27 million a day by being forced to sell their product cheaply. Alberta is losing money and investors.
The Northern Gateway proposal offers further risks as the pipeline goes through ecologically sensitive land areas and by crossing two major earthquake zones.
Kelly Morosh of Kitimat found using Enbridge’s own data that there is an 87 per cent chance of a dirty oil spill in our pristine coastal environment and there will be no long-term jobs or benefits to B.C. Two tankers with two pilots aboard and two tugs attached have already had two accidents near Kitimat this year. Thank God the tankers were empty. Say no to new pipelines and tankers on B.C.’s coast.
Ed Fowler
Penticton
