VANCOUVER, B.C. ─ In a poll released today by Living Oceans Society, B.C. residents living along the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline route ranked pipeline and tanker issues virtually neck-and-neck with the economy as the most important issue facing the province today and more important than health care, which took the number three spot.
VANCOUVER, B.C. ─ A report released today by four environmental groups warns that Kinder Morgan’s new Trans Mountain Pipeline proposal represents an exponential increase in the risk of a major marine-based oil spill affecting the Salish Sea’s most populous region, including the Cities of Vancouver and Victoria and the Southern Gulf Islands. The report analyses the insurance available to pay for spill response costs and damages caused by such a spill and concludes that Canadian taxpayers could be on the hook for as much as 90 percent of the cost.
VANCOUVER, B.C. ─ Diluted bitumen won’t exactly sink most of the time but it won’t exactly float all of the time, either, according to new evidence filed with the Joint Review Panel hearing the Enbridge Northern Gateway application in Prince Rupert. In cross-examination by Ecojustice counsel Karen Campbell today, Enbridge consultants admitted that tank test evidence filed this week found dilbit did submerge beneath the surface of the water, although none was found to have sunk to the bottom of the tank.
In 2005, Kinder Morgan bought the TransMountain Pipeline which runs from Edmonton, Alberta to Burnaby, British Columbia. They announced plans in 2011 to expand their capacity by building a parallel line. In 2012, they announced a further capacity expansion to a new total of 890,000 barrels of oil per day.
The original pipeline was built in 1953 without the benefit of public or environmental scrutiny and there was no public review when, in about 2006, it began shipping diluted bitumen (dilbit) as well as other crude and refined oils in the pipeline.
Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipelines Project proposes two pipelines running between Alberta’s tar sands and a marine terminal in Kitimat, B.C. From the terminal, 220-320 supertankers would transport oil to Asia and the southern U.S. each year. Other tankers would import condensate, the highly flammable, explosive and toxic substance used to dilute bitumen so that it can be transported by pipeline.
Our ongoing media campaign and collaboration with other environmental groups has helped bring 80 percent of British Columbians onboard for a permanent tanker ban. Expect this figure grow!
The Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline was recommended for approval by a Joint Review Panel composed of Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) and Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) in December, 2013. The decision of the panel can be found here.
We’re countering the multimillion dollar sales pitch by Big Oil by providing the true facts about oil tanker traffic in newspapers, on the six o’clock news and on radio talk shows.
We travel to communities big and small to make sure people know the risks and costs they’ll face if tankers come to the coast.
We use Google Earth to show exactly what we stand to lose from an oil spill. Our interactive map is easy to use and informative, so check it out.
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