577,The Unluckiest Number,Ten years out

The Enbridge pipeline disaster.

The 10 year anniversary next month of the Bengal Lion Star tragedy and I had to come to ground zero to see for myself, perhaps it was a mistake to come here, from what I have seen i`m way too angry to cry and too sad for fury, in fact I almost have that peaceful easy feeling.

How I miss my dad`s analytical explanation and mom`s hope springs eternal talks, yet I fear that neither parent could explain away this tragedy, 10 years later, 10 years of black death extending it`s reach.

Looking around by boat off Banks island, one mile from ground zero the feeling is of the surreal, trees are still green but any ocean life or bird activity is eerily quiet, no salmon fry swimming , no squawking gulls just silence, for tens of miles in every direction the great kelp forests are gone, who gave us permission to gamble and lose what we didn`t own and what we could never replace, Fish lake was a horrid environmental mistake, imagine deliberately destroying a huge natural watershed for trinkets of gold, thousands of dead migrating birds, a poisonous lake devoid of life, how many species of frogs, insects still get near or in the lake only to perish or leave half dead, but as horrible as the deliberate execution of Fish lake was the scale of the Bengal Lion Star oil spill off Banks island in Hecate Strait is beyond compare, how is it that my only terms of reference in attempting to describe this site is that of dead zones, in a way its very peaceful, no eternal battle for life here, those days are long gone.

Only if I could turn back the clock, why did it happen, the Bengal Lion Star should not have went out, a deep pacific low moving in, was the Captain pressured to leave, why why why, even with two large commercial tug boats assisting wasn`t going to stop the wreck, maybe if there were extra support tugs who knows but when lead tug boat Kitimat queen capsized in heavy seas nothing was going to stop the massive oil carrier from grounding on White jagged rocks that stormy (March 14, 2016) night, 30 – 40 ft high waves capped with fury pounded the Bengal Lion Star on unforgiving rocks, section after section burst like watermelons, spewing millions of gallons of tar sand oil, the 3rd largest oil spill in the world, maybe if the oil containment teams had gotten out here sooner but with storm force winds blowing for 2 days along with extreme high – low tides, my god, oil sprayed the shore line high on exposed rocks and layered thick into the lowest tidal zones, mountains of Alberta crude flowing in deep water, who could imagine the oil would have spread 50 miles in different directions over 2 days, coves, bays, narrow channels coated in black death, as far as I can look in any direction this paradise is dead, who knows what the bird count will ultimately be, millions of direct bird deaths with millions more that died in subsequent migrations, birds all along the coast found dead, birds with clear signs of contact with heavy oil, the engine in this migration route blasted with syncrude, indeed, the scale of the Bengal Lion Star oil spill can`t be measured in millions of oiled birds or the 40 distinct salmon runs that were decimated and or all of BC`a wild salmon teetering on extinction, the sea lions, otters, coastal bears, eagles, ferrets, no salmon spawns led one extinction into another, we broke nature`s bond, too many dead for one`s heart to count, oil stained carcasses feed other animals that ultimately die and black oil`s death grip reaches on and on, only with time, generational time, perhaps millenia before this area recovers, can it recover, and for what, to spill another tanker of crude.

I don`t what is harder to take, the fragile existence of a few northern runs of salmon and southern Sockeye, it`s almost like the cycle of life has been thrown out, this large swath of nature, thousands of square miles destroyed forever, well at least for my lifetime, perhaps 6 or 7 generations before this area will become fertile again but with continued oil tanker traffic when will black death strike again, even if the shell fish recover, even if herring spawns again, the Orca will never be seen again, the birthing females were first to die then the small adolescent Orca perished, 2 adult males are all that is left of the species, maybe mankind should have figured out how to start a new Orca pod before destroying the only one we had, we can take life away in a moment for all time, why didn`t we learn from the Valdez disaster, there is no going back, First Nations have mourned, the northern and island tourism industry has been decimated, maybe I should have fought harder against the National review 15 years ago, 10 years out from the disaster and Hecate Strait still lay mortally wounded, you can still smell crude oil, I can only think of Charlton Heston`s Planet of the Apes movie when he sees New York`s Statue of Liberty and realizes that it was mankind himself that burned mother nature, this area is no longer worth fighting for, top scientists are mostly in agreement that outside of decades of time there is nothing on scale that can be done to remediate the damage.

It appears the only ones left fighting about the Bengal Lion Star are the litigants, where have we seen this picture before, the Valdez law suit still lingers unpaid(40 years later), the Liberian registered Bengal Lion Star oil tanker had but minimum insurance, $200 million dollars yet the insurance has been contested, Bengal Lion Star hadn`t paid premiums in 2 years, Honshu commercial carrier insurance company have claimed bankruptcy, between the Province and Ottawa more than $4.9 billion has been spent on clean-up and species mitigation, First Nations, affected business`s and local town`s folk have law suits filed worth more than $10 billion dollars, everyone sueing and litigating for compensation on something no one can return, Enbridge pipeline inc washes their hands of any responsibility, Shell, Exxon Mobile and the Chinese petroleum company are all pointing fingers at each other, owners of the Bengal Lion Star blame the escort tug company, tug company blames act of god and file for bankruptcy, how long will these trials go on and who will ultimately pay, what price, what price to return nature to the way it was, all this pain to secure dirty Alberta syncrude to China, oil use falls for the last 7 years, a dying product needing desperate tyrants, we sold out nature on British Columbian`s wild west coast for a handful of pesos, how can ancient dregs of plants take so much away from present and future life cycles, I can`t shed tears anymore, my life, my personal battles, millions of wasted words warning of potential harm or should I say risk management, I `m too old to repeat the warnings and too tired to muster passion, the battle for Haida Gwaii is over.

Despite the First Nation`s blockade attempting to stop the very first oil tanker, 8 First Nations elders gave their life that day, not enough pressure to stop the Vessel, Oil tanker Shell diamond and it`s Canadian naval escort, dugout canoe versus high-speed frigate, symbolic but futile, the time to stop Enbridge was before it started, certainly native voices on opening day weren`t going to stop it, you can`t stop $4billion dollars spent, never the less January 13/2014 that was first super tanker to leave Kitimat, thousands of small protest vessels, even Greenpeace and Suzuki foundation concentrated efforts couldn`t stop the Federal Conservatives and the Campbell Liberal administration from rubber stamping this project from the git-go, proceeding at full speed, no matter how much evidence anti pipeline opponents, scientists, biologist, enviro`s put forward they were all but ignored, why didn`t the NDP government stop the completion of Enbridge after they were elected in 2013, was the fix in, too much money invested to stop, too big to fail, needed economic growth, jobs jobs jobs, yes I heard everyone of those excuses justifying the completion of Enbridge, what jobs, imported foreign workers building the pipeline and 12 permanent after construction jobs, was it worth it.

Madness, I knew something really big would happen, not the 5000 barrels that spilt into the Skeena river, not the 50,000 barrels dumped at the port of Kitimat but something epic, mathematician’s also knew it was coming, not if a big spill would happen but when a spill would happen, I can still hear Gordon Campbell, Christy Clark talk about risk management, the best experts in the world say we can manage the risk, how come no one asked how do we manage armageddon, how do we clean up, how do we create more Orca, how do you bring back thousands of square miles from the dead, I wonder what Gordon Campbell would say, ex premier Adrian Dix stated regrets that the NDP didn`t do more to stop Enbridge, Gordon Campbell is long since dead, yes Gordon Muir Campbell I pass blame on to you and your complicit Cabinet, your legacy, Enbridge, bankrupt utilities, a dismal health care system, a dead central coast and slow dying life cycle, well, no one is listening to me, not the Governing federal Conservatives, not Premier Gordon Coons of the newly elected Refederation party, no, no one wants to listen to the left wing, after the BC Liberal led economic collapse, the seeds of P3s, IPPs and insider deals dominated, it didn`t matter who was Government so many bad deals were signed, how many can the court overturn, the extent of the economic damage that came to fruition, what happened, like the Spanish flu in 1919 that killed millions, no one talks about the harm Gordon Campbell`s corporate Government inflicted upon us, the extent of one way contracts that ate up every Provincial dollar and more, I can`t help but think back to our 2010 Olympics, the pride, the I am Canadian attitude, Super Natural British Columbia but just a few short years after the closing ceremonies we have poisoned interior lakes, lost countless wild salmon runs to fish farms and now the third largest oil spill in the world, a death blow to our BC Coast, a massive spill in our migration engine.

Just picture heaven covered in oil, and what hurts even more, the people of BC don`t seem to care anymore, in the latest public opinion poll by Ipsos Reid job creation and big industry are more important than the environment, 67% for jobs and 16% say protect the environment, it`s times like this when I stare across at Mc Caully island or look into Norway inlet, smell the oil, I see the end of the world being played out, there is no shoulder of comfort to lean on, no soothing hugs that can squelch my silent anger, 576 successful departures from Kitimat, 576 loaded oil tankers that safely managed the inside passage, risk management, reward versus risk, despite 5 years of cruise ships not plying the inside passage, despite the loss to tourism, despite a sterile ocean desert, despite the tiniest of recoveries on the outer edges of the spill zone, despite of everything tanker traffic is predicted to triple over the next 3 years, an insatiable Asian appetite for oil and now that paradise is lost there is nothing left to fight for and no reason to stop, perhaps other edens can be spared.

Number 577, no tears of anger, no screams of silence, nothing but “That peaceful easy feeling.”

______________________________________

Just imagine the horror.

Good Day

Listen to the Enbridge hearings live on radio at this link.

http://www.meetview.com/neb/player/?player_id=71

More spam. How many threads are you going to cut and paste this into? Where are the moderators?

It`s hypothetical, but it is possible, probable and going by statistical data of tanker disasters practically inescapable.

If that link to the Enbridge hearings doesn`t work you can try this one.

http://gatewaypanel.review-examen.gc.ca/clf-nsi/prtcptngprcss/hrng-eng.html

Cheers Ears Wide Open

How many?

Every Enbridge story, that`s how many.

Johnny, you can skip over it.

How many times are you going to insult me Johnnybelt?

Moderators?

You can be sure if there are 1100 people signed up to the Northern Gateway Alliance you can be rest assured they are not grassroots working men/women, but rather corporation employees who have probably had thier name added as part of the company. Hey, Harper, so much for your attempt at sabotauge and trying to convince BCers that it is American interests that are running these protests. Looks like big name Canadians to me on that list. Kinsley, what can I say, once a rat always a rat. A rat that looks like a toad.

http://www.meetview.com/neb/player/?player_id=71

and

http://gatewaypanel.review-examen.gc.ca/clf-nsi/prtcptngprcss/hrng-eng.html

“How many times are you going to insult me Johnnybelt?”

Every Enbridge story, that’s how many.

I wonder if I cut and pasted a bunch of stuff from Northerngateway.ca, I wonder how long that would be tolerated?

Fighting spam with spam?

Fill your boots Johnny, I scare you, I scare Enbridge…Little ol me against the Vancouver Sun, CKNW, Joe Oliver, Stephen treason Harper, the Federal Government, against Enbridge, against the big oil front group Ethical oil, against $100 million dollars from petro China..

Yea Johnnybelt, I scare you for good reason..

I, no, make that we have the world, the facts, future generations on our side.

Scream at the computer, huff n puff, stomp your feet..

Your opinion means nothing to me.

With respect.

Good Day

Enjoy!

http://forestethics.org/downloads/HUGHES_Northern_Gateway_Pipeline_November_2011.pdf

“The Enbridge funded Northern Gateway Alliance, chaired by former Prince George Mayor Colin Kinsley, says it’s signed up over 1100 members”

You can bet they are all business owners and others that will benefit financially from it.

Money! Thats all that really matters…..right?

I don’t know why anyone os worried about the pipeline
http://www.december212012.com/

Thank you PrinceGeorge, you too Dragonmaster, for everything, including activating the links.

Good Day

I predict civil unrest if this project is approved.

While we are cutting and pasting from Wilipedia and other nonsense sites…

“Henny Penny, also known as Chicken Licken or Chicken Little, is a fable in the form of a cumulative tale about a chicken who believes the world is coming to an end. The phrase The sky is falling! features prominently in the story, and has passed into the English language as a common idiom indicating a hysterical or mistaken belief that disaster is imminent.”

criminalmind = delusions of grandeur.

C’mon, post some more visual pollution! I dare ya!

Cutnpaste250!

Well they have been shipping oil from Vancouver through the straights with no issues. The tanker traffic is much much busier there. So whats the big deal. As for pipelines… Do those opposed think its safer transporting it by rail along the rivers? Its not a matter if but when so lets do it the safest way and they are doing a great job making sure that happens.

Progress does not mean stopping.

From an article in the Globe and Mail

______________________________________

“The marine environment at the surface can be equally brutal. Some tankers would traverse Hecate Strait, which Environment Canada ranks as the fourth most dangerous body of water in the world. Waves in South Hecate Strait have reached 26 metres – the height of a seven-storey building.

“The storms here are so continual and so severe that it’s a recipe for disaster,” said Murray Minchin, a Canada Post delivery worker in Kitimat who is a kayaker and landscape photographer.”

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/british-columbia/bc-politics/bc-coast-is-hostile-country-for-oil-pipeline-panel-told/article2299637/

Oh a Canada Post delivery worker should set our policies. It all makes sense now.
(No offense to our fine postal employees)

Comment Posted by: JohnnyBelt on January 17 2012 7:01 PM
criminalmind = delusions of grandeur.

C’mon, post some more visual pollution! I dare ya!
Comment Posted by: JohnnyBelt on January 17 2012 7:02 PM
Cutnpaste250!

Hey, Jonny do you even live in B.C.?
Do your wife and kids give you any backtalk or even they CAN”T HAVE AN OPINION!
Someone needs a good bare a$$ spanking eh JB

@Hammy…This is what they do, they try and divert the topic, attempt to hijack it and go a different direction..

It`s clasic strawman stupidity.

I`ve been in those waters, from calm to storm force winds and seas in an hour, very scary indeed.

Stay on topic, just like the glib remark about a postman, he`s a photographer and kayaker, and that`s only a tiny part of that story.

It doesn`t take a meterologist(weatherman) to tell you the wind is howling and waves the size of 7 story windows are pounding you into submission.

Cheers

Cheers

dragon says
“You can bet they are all business owners and others that will benefit financially from it”.

I expect many are general tax payers who would like some help funding government so people like you and criminal can finally get a labotomy.

Freighters have been sailing the Douglas channel since the fifties with a lot less rules than the tankers. Was there ever an incident, I don’t know? Doesn’t seem to be. Everyday there is a lot of shipping in Hecate straight, just saying.

The pros are certainly acting defensive today…wonder why?

@criminalmind: Uh, you do realize this is a comment board, like thousands of others.

Do you believe that yours (or anybody’s) comments amount to a hill of beans?

You’re starting to sound like Charlie Sheen. Are you ‘winning’ yet?

Yawn.

hammy: “Hey, Jonny do you even live in B.C.?
Do your wife and kids give you any backtalk or even they CAN”T HAVE AN OPINION!
Someone needs a good bare a$$ spanking eh JB”

criminalmind’s groupie speaks!

Pave paradise and put up a parking lot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgMEPk6fvpg

Be who you are and say what you feel… because those that matter.. don’t mind…and those that mind…don’t matter!

(A Farewell to friends/Wish you were here)

(This was one of my first posts I did, I`m re-running it because, because Mom has come around after Dad`s recent death, she managed to get her phone call aired on the Sean Leslie show this Sunday about 3:45pm, she scolded the Government, she scolded Kevin Falcon, she was great and….And mom is so excited to go fishing at China creek, we are going to fish the labour day salmon derby, her strength is amazing, I feed off it and vice versa, and for those who were not with me when I originally wrote this post, once you read it you will understand, for today I have more tears, only they are tears of happiness!)

Another Port Alberni salmonfest under my belt, more stories, more tears, more life.

Having being blessed with a photographic memory or cursed as it cuts both ways, If one wants to learn about life, about cycles, about the trials and tribulations of regular folks there is no better place than China creek fish camp.

Dad, mom and I have been going there every year for a quarter century(wow, does that sound like a long time) ….There is nothing to do there, no playground, no malls, just a windy little fishing camp halfway between Port Alberni and Bamfield, a cold rainy, always windy place to park your camper, launch your boat and go fishing…

But over the years I have learned that China Creek is much much more than that, it`s a place where life thrives, a place where the change of season is in full bloom.
For years I observed, saying very little but listening intently, never eavesdrop but hear everything, lend a hand if asked and keep a low profile, I have always been a keen observer, study everything and re-run a 1000 scenario`s in my head..

I as young person noticed that China Creek was full of old people, they don`t appear that old to me anymore, the parents would sleep in the trailer, I would sleep on the boat, well,actually I would be awake most nights tying up new fishing lures, oiling reels and re-run fishing thoughts through my head, well being down on the boat at the dock and awake or still up at 5.00AM I got to see the parade of fisherman coming down the ramp each morning, all these grey haired men half asleep heading down the ramp to their boats for their daily fishing trips, in my mind I would get impressions of people, the odd clothing, the vast array of simple fishboats, the talkers, the hungover, the angry, the tired, a picture is worth a 1000 words.

My dad is such a rock, solid, stable, funny, stern, disciplined, my mom, caring, thoughtful, eager to please, full of emotion and passion, I kinda guess I got the best of both of the them,…Dad, he likes to talk to people, he likes to fix everybody`s broken motors, electronics, you name it, dad can fix it.

So dad gets to know Norman, and older gentlemen who camped next to him in the campground for years, Norman was always quick to offer a drink, dad doesn`t drink but he sure used too, mom, well, an occasional social drink, as for me, I drink some, none, a few a night or nary a drop for months, whatever the situation is I adapt….Anyway, Norman, single, with sort of a girlfriend was there at China creek to live, to live his simple passion, a friendly charming man who was dying, dying from absestos in his lungs, he welded and fitted pipes forever before the dangers were told to him and other workers,.
Norman never complained, he`d choke, cough and crack a joke, WCB fought him to the bitter end, well anyway, we were out fishing(last season) only to return to the camper when mom and dad were told he had passed, he didn`t make it fishing that day, my mom took it hard, dad too, only dad is so strong he gave us all strength, as for me, well,I am a bundle of emotion and having listened to Norman, not eavesdropping but I hear everything, I knew he hung out at the Kingsway hotel in Port Alberni where he attended weekly meat draws and socialized, well I drove to the Kingsway sat at HIS table had a couple of pints, I gave Norman a salute left a full mug of beer for him, grabbed the tribute paper the bar had made up about his life and gave that to dad on my return to China Creek.

Lets go fishing! Late August early September, life and death is in full bloom, chinook salmon returning to spawn and die, but with salmon they don`t really die, their remains nurture the rivers, fatten up the bears, and the birds, birds chirping and congregating in large flocks, every animal is repeating it`s life sustaining rituals with full colour and display.

Here we were fishing Friday morning when the boat STRYKER trolled by us and waved, I said to dad there`s Don and the Stryker,(He moored his boat beside us for decades) Dad piped up,”didn`t you hear, Don Killed himself this spring”….I was shocked, dad told me that Don put his 30 30 to his heart and pulled the trigger, dad said he had no money problems, sons, grandchildren, no illness, there was absolutely no explanation for Don to kill himself but what really amazed me the most was, later on at the dock there was Don`s wife,his son, Don son`s wife and grandchild coming in from fishing, the camper was set up, what brave people I thought, Don has his soul all over his boat, Don was the “Stryker”, What brought them back to China Creek? A cold, rainy, always windy barren fish camp, I admire their strength, I miss Don, a rock of a man, a smart man who was a strong as a bull, if a man like Don succumbs to the pressure what hope is there for us mere mortals, a man`s man, a he man, a father, a grandfather, now only a legend, I hope Don`s wife and his sons return every year, I had no kind words or condolences to offer(I just didn`t know what to say except hello), I will make amends next year, and perhaps Don`s family will share their secret strength and tell me why the draw to China Creek is as powerful as the salmon`s pull to their birth stream.

This place will do it to you, my mind is restless as I sit on the boat re-tying lures again, pondering the government, pondering life, my conscious wanders to my mistakes, my life, how short life is, how sweet and how bitter all in the same pill, I literally bring myself to tears, I sometimes wonder why I was cursed and blessed with a photographic memory and my mom`s emotions, why was I not given the sternness, the man`s man power, the stoic clarity, no, I was given extra helpings of emotions.

Scotty, a white bearded elderly man, an old boat called the CONJAN, I watched year after year this man come down to his old metal boat, he was a quiet presence, to me his boat seemed cold and angry, the impression of the man himself was that of an angry, lonely man, I stayed well clear of him, a few years ago while fishing at the Campground, mom and dad left, the boat needed a part, they would be gone for a few days but I decided to stay in China creek on the boat, I couldn`t fish but I so enjoy marina life and at least I would be near the fish, well fishing was good and here I was stuck on the dock with a broken boat, as shy as I am I had to get out fishing, but being out fishing on some man`s boat as luggage didn`t appeal to me..

Here were the fishermen returning from the ocean and I patiently waited for Scotty to return, I assisted his tie up at the dock and asked how he made out fishing, well he had caught nothing but said tomorrow is another day, he asked the same of me, how was fishing today…..Well there was my opening, I told Scotty the boat was broken and I`m dock bound for a few days!

Well before I could finish my sentence Scotty piped up about joining him the next day for fishing, I nervously agreed, I scampered off and said see you at 5.30 am…….The next day, I being up for hours re-tying lures, my best lures, my secret lures, I was there to greet this angry, lonely, white bearded old man beside his old beat-up metal boat(Boy was I nervous) I shouldn`t have been, Scotty brought coffee in a thermos, candy and a smile, I brought tackle and 40 plus years of fish stories.
So out we go, he had in his boat, old rods, reels,lures, a blast right out of the past, weathered seats, cracked window, well what do I care I get to go fishing, I gave Scotty one of my favorite spoons to use and we weren`t fishing long when his rod screamed out, the fish was about a 30lb chinook, the ice was officially broken, we talked fish, life and family..

He remarked how he had noticed me always tying lures, tending to the boat, he also remarked on how I always caught so many fish and here I thought no-one noticed me…hmmm

We fished together for several days, Scotty was a kind, gentle passionate man, he loved his daughters (Connie/Janice) hence the name of his boat ConJan:….His eyes lit up when he talked of his wife, his daughters and all the adventures they had in his metal boat, every tear,every lure, every broken piece of his boat was a story of his family, his eyes lit up when talked family, such passion, such tradition, his old boat scars and all was the tapestry of his life and I am the wiser for Scotty letting me in, meanwhile we developed a real special friendship, I was sad in a way when dad returned with parts for the boat, I can`t fish on 2 boats at the same time, I`ll work something out…
Meanwhile Scotty was waiting for a knee replacement surgery, he got it done 2 years ago, well,that was the year of 1.60 litre fuel, high ferries and apparently Scotty succumbed to money problems, Scotty`s alive but didn`t make it to the Creek this year, I miss the man, I will make arrangements to take Scotty fishing soon at my expense! I need some more wisdom.

Meanwhile I just got home and I want to go back, the call, the need of the creek, the marina just pulls at me, my friends who I listen to, the ones I haven`t heard yet, a windy, rainy barren fish camp in the middle of nowhere, yet life abounds there, it pulls and tugs the heart strings, my ears, my mind, my eyes are wide open, life and death with all it`s giving and taking, I will miss my friends.

May all of you who have left to early you`re still here in my heart, I see you coming down the ramp, I see you on your boats, I see your bright smiles at the fish cleaner.

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2009/09/farewell-to-friendswish-you-were-here.html

Enjoy the read

JB:`C’mon, post some more visual pollution! I dare ya!

Visual pollution would be pictures of black oil smeared beaches and crude covered seals, otters and birds dying in the sludge…too bad one can not post pictures on this site, pictures of the latest environmental destruction from leaking pipelines and crumpled oil tankers!