Enbridge Hearings Tense in Prince Rupert
Friday, February 17, 2012 @ 3:56 PM
Prince George, B.C. – The Joint Review Panel hearings into the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway twin pipeline project got off to a rocky start in Prince Rupert this morning.
The session was to start with a presentation by Skeena-Bulkley M.P. Nathan Cullen, but Cullen says there was a great deal of discussion about what he should or shouldn’t be allowed to present to the panel. “Enbridge had its lawyers there and they were all ready to go before I even opened my mouth” says Cullen. “It wasn’t 7 minutes ( into his presentation) before they started interrupting, essentially because I was saying things they didn’t like, you know a pipeline and super-tankers threaten not just our economy but who we are as people. Of course if you’re with their company, that’s not the kind of thing you want on the public record.”
The Metlakatla First Nation has now registered its objections over Enbridge’s attempts to limit Cullen’s testimony, as well as the National Energy Board’s own attempt to bar a First Nations drummer in regalia from attending the hearing proceedings.
Lara Peterson, the Metlakatla drummer, who was dressed in traditional regalia and part of the audience at the time, objected to continued interjections by Enbridge’s lawyers seeking to limit the testimony of MP Nathan Cullen. When Enbridge lawyers said Mr. Cullen should not be speaking on behalf of First Nations, Ms. Peterson shouted, "He’s one of us. He can speak," at which point she left the room out of frustration.
When she tried to re-enter the room, National Energy Board security told Ms. Peterson she was not allowed back in, and directed the RCMP to bar her. Ms. Peterson explained she had a right to go in. She was warned by the RCMP that she would be arrested and charged with trespassing if she attempted to re-enter the proceedings. Motioning for handcuffs, she put out her hands and said, "go ahead." North Coast MLA, Gary Coons, and two other gentlemen stood up for the woman and convinced the police officer to let her back in.
Clarence Nelson, a Metlakatla hereditary chief called the woman’s ejection from the hearings a deeply disrespectful act, especially since she was wearing traditional regalia at the time: "When we’re with regalia, it represents who we are," said Nelson. "’Respect’ is a powerful word in our language."
Cullen says the incident was “Somewhat symbolic of the whole thing, if you raise your voice the Prime Minister calls you a radical, and if you have the audacity to think that maybe the environment is important or your local community is important, he calls you an enemy of the State.”
Cullen says the company (Enbridge) is going to try and make this pipeline seem like it’s no big deal, “But it is a big deal, it’s all about who we are, and when you threaten that, you threaten everything and we’re going to defend ourselves. We are not going to be bullied, we’re not going to have the Prime Minister tell us we’re not relevant and that our opinions don’t matter, that’s not going to happen. We know what to do with bullies up here in the north and one thing you don’t do is back down, so we won’t back down.”
In recent days, the Council for the City of Terrace has voted to officially oppose the proposed pipeline, support Cullen says is welcome, “ I think when elected people actually voice the opinions they have said so many times privately and sometimes publicly, it really shows there is so little support for this project across the region.”
Cullen says the NDP will be releasing a poll in a couple of days which was conducted with people right across B.C. and it shows that as soon as the idea of tankers is mentioned, support for the project “drops through the floor, and that’s the fact to it, it is a threat to who we are, it is a threat to what we want to be in the future and it feels like we are in the way of what the company wants to do, we’re just an inconvenience for them and we’re not, we’re much more than that. This is our place and this our land and we are going to defend it right to the hilt.”
“This is our home, you can’t say we’re going to threaten who you are and you’re going to be silent throughout the whole process. I know the people of this region and we fight hard for the things we care about and we are going to fight hard on this one.”
Cullen closed his comments to the panel saying “The ocean, and the land, are not just jobs or a meal for us, they are our life. “The threat that the Enbridge pipeline poses to our lives and livelihoods is absolutely unacceptable.”
Comments
‘Way to go Nathan Cullen!!!
Like I said before, enbridge are thugs, Canadian civil was is coming.
http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2012/02/enbridge-uses-intimidation-money-and.html
Cullen doing what he and his party do best… complain and criticize without offering any alternatives.
Good job Nathan Cullen! Those that criticise people that are trying to do whats right are of very poor character.
That’s the problem Dragon, who’s idea of what’s “right”. You are one of the biggest criticisers on this site when you disagree. Does that mean you are always 100% right? If so than you should be in politics!
Obviously democracy and civil rights, together with civil behaviour are not everyone’s cup of tea!
Sure hope that all opposition stands firm! No backing up! Why doesn’t Harper call Sarah Palin to use her influence on the present governor to pipe the stuff through Alberta to Alaska! Then they can load the super tankers right there! There they never had a single drop of crude spilled into the environment!
Never! Pipelines don’t break and tankers don’t break up.
Several comments have been removed as they crossed the line on bullying fellow posters or were slipping into the bad language pit.
It is possible to debate the issue without name calling or cursing. Comments that cross those lines will be removed.
Elaine Macdonald
I suspect the thing to do is stick with the Keystone Pipeline option to Texas, which will be built, and expand the pipeline to Vancouver. It wouldnt cost anymore, (probably a hell of a lot less) and would satisfy all concerned, except the refineries in California.
The Northern half of the Province, Kitimat, etc, would not benefit from a Southern line, however we do have other options in the North.
If I was Enbridge I would just walk away from this project.
I have always suspected that the real reason for this pipeline is for the oil tankers to go to the refineries in California, and that China is a smokescreen. It would be very difficult to get the ok for a pipeline through Washington, Oregon, and California., hence the need for shipping to California.
Interesting to see how this all pans out.
What will BC gain with this pipeline,some jobs in construction and at the port. We have 90% of the risk and Alberta gets the money. Also when tankers leave the port thats were enbrige liability ends.They can say anything but thats a fact. We need jobs no question but this will cause more pain then gain
Oh, I see how it works here at Opinion 250…It`s ok for Johnny, Gus, intercept to slag me or anyone else, as soon as one fires back at em out comes Elaine to delete..
Typical for this paper, all they do is promote BC Liberals, Pat Bell is like a God to opinion 250
Fine Elaine, I will expect you will delete every comment from those mentioned above when they slag me or others
http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.com/2012/01/enbridge-will-kill-british-columbia.html
Criminalmind – if you bothered to notice both Johnny and I did have several posts removed – of which I do apologize to Ben and Elaine. Having said thatn if you hate it here so much please go away. Nobody clicks on your links anyway.
Here is Enbridge covering oil spills with canvas and grass.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gXaYZVGw44&feature=player_embedded
Here is Enbridge covering oil spills with sand.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zlnri_scklA&feature=player_embedded
Here is Enbridge telling Michigan it wasn`t their fault
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxrC7akwGsI&feature=related
Here is Enbridge using intimidation and scare tactics.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6hke_TE80Q&feature=related
More Enbridge.
http://vimeo.com/22067803
Good day
I honestly think Nathen Cullen will be our next Prime Minister… Enbridge might rue the day they slighted him.
Criminal Mind – today is the last day to become a member of the NDP, if you want to vote for Nathan Cullen as leader of the opposition. Lots of people who have never been members are signing up to do just that.
Thanks for the Videos criminalmind.
Nathen Cullen as Prime Minister, scary. So I guess you folks would like unelected NGO’s like WWF, Greenpeace etc running the country. People like Andrew Weaver, Suzuki calling the shots. Be careful what you wish for. I see a lot of emotion but not much technical examination.
Myself I have issues dealing with China considering, its military buildup, human rights and environmental issues. But with trade we get to have some influence.
With exporting oil and gas has the country thought of reserves held back for our own use in the future.
The NDP in federal power. It will never happen. The honeymoon is long over in Quebec.
Spills and violations
Using data from Enbridge’s own reports, the Polaris Institute calculated that 804 spills occurred on Enbridge pipelines between 1999 and 2010. These spills released approximately 168,645 barrels (26,812.4 m3) of hydrocarbons into the environment.[8]
On July 4, 2002 an Enbridge pipeline ruptured in a marsh near the town of Cohasset, Minnesota in Itasca County, spilling 6,000 barrels (950 m3) of crude oil. In an attempt to keep the oil from contaminating the Mississippi River, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources set a controlled burn that lasted for 1 day and created a smoke plume about 1-mile (1.6 km) high and 5 miles (8.0 km) long.[9]
In 2006, there were 67 reportable spills totaling 5,663 barrels (900.3 m3) on Enbridge’s energy and transportation and distribution system; in 2007, there were 65 reportable spills totaling 13,777 barrels (2,190.4 m3) [10]
On March 18, 2006, approximately 613 barrels (97.5 m3) of crude oil were released when a pump failed at Enbridge’s Willmar terminal in Saskatchewan.[11] According to Enbridge, roughly half the oil was recovered, the remainder contributing to ‘off-site’ impacts.
On January 1, 2007 an Enbridge pipeline that runs from Superior, Wisconsin to near Whitewater, Wisconsin cracked open and spilled ~50,000 US gallons (190 m3) of crude oil onto farmland and into a drainage ditch.[12] The same pipeline was struck by construction crews on February 2, 2007, in Rusk County, Wisconsin, spilling ~126,000 US gallons (480 m3) of crude. Some of the oil filled a hole more than 20 feet (6.1 m) deep and was reported to have contaminated the local water table.[13]
In April 2007, roughly 6,227 barrels (990.0 m3) of crude oil spilled into a field downstream of an Enbridge pumping station near Glenavon, Saskatchewan. Long-term site remediation is being attempted to bring the site to “as close as possible to its original condition”.[11]
In 2009, Enbridge Energy Partners, a US affiliate of Enbridge Inc., agreed to pay $1.1 million to settle a lawsuit brought against the company by the state of Wisconsin for 545 environmental violations.[14] In a news release from Wisconsin’s Department of Justice, Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen said “…the incidents of violation were numerous and widespread, and resulted in impacts to the streams and wetlands throughout the various watersheds.”[15] The violations were incurred while building portions of the company’s Southern Access pipeline, a ~$2.1 billion project to transport crude from the oil sands region in Alberta to Chicago.
In January 2009 an Enbridge pipeline leaked about 4,000 barrels (640 m3) of oil southeast of Fort McMurray at the company’s Cheecham Terminal tank farm. It was reported in the Edmonton Journal that most of the spilled oil was contained within berms, but that about 1% of the oil, about 40 barrels (6.4 m3), sprayed into the air and coated nearby snow and trees.[16]
April 2010 an Enbridge pipeline ruptured spilling more than 1500 litres of oil in Virden, Manitoba, which leaked into the Boghill Creek which eventually connects to the Assiniboine River.[17]
July 2010, a leaking pipeline spilled an estimated 843,444 US gallons (3,192.78 m3) of crude oil into Talmadge Creek leading to the Kalamazoo River in southwest Michigan on Monday, July 26.[18][19] A United States Environmental Protection Agency update of the Kalamazoo River spill concluded the pipeline rupture “caused the largest inland oil spill in Midwest history” and reported the cost of the cleanup at $36.7 million (US) as of November 14, 2011.[18]
On September 9, 2010, a rupture on Enbridge’s Line 6A pipeline near Romeoville, Illinois released an estimate 6,100 barrels (970 m3) of oil into the surrounding area.[18][20]
[edit] Environmental initiatives
An excellent article to read has come from Bloomberg Markets Magazine in November 2011:
Oil Abundance in Canada Provokes Anxiety Over Fossil Fuel Lust
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-22/oil-abundance-in-canada-sands-provoking-anxiety-over-lust-for-fossil-fuels.html
An excerpt:
…Pacific Pipelines
Many of Canadaâs elected officials were backing Pacific pipelines even before the Obama administrationâs move on Keystone XL.
âAs a country, you want no more than half to two-thirds of your export base tied up with one customer,â says Ron Liepert, who oversaw the boom as Albertaâs energy minister for 21 months before becoming the provinceâs finance minister in October.
Liepert didnât want to stop with Keystone XL or Northern Gateway.
âYouâre looking at four or five Keystone- and Gateway-type projects,â he said in September.
Part of his goal was to make it possible for Canadians to charge more for their oil….
The trouble with this thinking is it fails to mention that we will also pay more for oil and its by-products.
The article goes on to state that the main reason for the Keystone XL was to increase the price of that oil to match the Brent price which is more than the West Texas price and extending the pipeline to the Gulf Coast of the USA will allow exports from there to China and other non-North American markets.
Have a read!
Comments for this article are closed.