Will BC be better off with the Northern Gateway project or without it?
The latest spin from Enbridge (at taxpayer cost) depicts the wholesome image of corporate lead, Janet Holden, committing to a better and safer pipeline. The message: we will meet the highest standards, trust me.
BUT The best predictor of future performance is past performance.
Too soon we forget the 2010 Michigan oil spill and the outrage of the American government and its citizens over Enbridgeʼs poor response time and inadequate reaction to the devastation of oil spilling from their pipeline into a tributary of the Kalamazoo River. The impact on human health and ecology of the river systems continues to date. In that year alone over 1 million US gallons of oil was spilled as a result of ruptures or other causes of Enbridge pipeline failures.
But perhaps, you think we have ironclad environmental regulations which will prevent an oil spill disaster on the proposed pipeline through BC. Not likely. Bill C 38 took care of those bothersome standards. And donʼt count on the Department of Fisheries to be watchdogs for the 209 conditions outlined in the NEB report. DOF quietly transferred the responsibility for environmental standards along the pipeline corridor to the National Energy Board just before Christmas.
So do you trust Jason Macdonald from the PMOʼs office when he says”Our government recognizes the importance of developing resources responsibly and sustainably and we will continue to ensure that Canada’s environmental laws and regulations are rigorous?”
More and more informed Canadians are beginning to connect the dots.
Sheri Plummer
Parksville BC