Campbell River British Columbia at Risk for Oil Spills

Would you like oil with that?




 Top: Early morning looking toward Quadra Island Top Rt. Totem figures holding up roof of gathering place. Many small fishers depend on clean unpolluted waters.Rt. end of building depicts Sea Snake(serpent) First Nation Art.
Left. Art work along esplanade. Based on war helmet.
Bottom: Welcome figure on sea side of FN shopping centre


Campbell River is just one of many small coastal towns at risk for oil spills. While the government in Ottawa debates the merits of oil pipelines and proposed increase of tanker traffic in the hundreds per year, these small coastal towns remain vulnerable.

This little town located on the northern and eastern coast of Vancouver Island has seen its ups and downs over the years. A hydro-electric dam started in the late 40s brought temporary work for men. Logging and fishing were big money makers through the following decades. But once the big timbers were cut and easy fishing played out the cycle of boom and bust continued.
Recently the pulp mill closed its doors.

One employment stayed constant throughout these cycles. People with money in their jeans would come to try to catch the king salmon. These giant Chinook salmon became famous in the ‘20s when a British journalist wrote about his 70 pound(31.75 kilos) fish that he caught in the area. The publicity earned for Campbell River the title of Salmon Capital of the World.

In order to set themselves apart, the Tyee Club was formed in 1924 which set out strictly maintained standards. One of the more famous demands is that the fisher must catch his trophy from a boat that is paddled or rowed. No motors are allowed.

For hundreds of other who flock to the area during the salmon runs as well as the commercial fishery in the area, modern equipment is allowed.

Whale watching as well as other large mammal watching provides more with a living.
Open net salmon farming has become a large employer for the area. While the practise is controversial, it too needs clean, cold water to thrive. Shell fishery thrives in the area as well.

Any time that a boat on the water uses liquid fuel to run the motors there is a danger of spilling some into the water. Recently a small spill of diesel fuel off the north end of the island polluted a large area used by the indigenous people living there. Aside from consuming the shellfish themselves, they estimated that they made around $150 000 each year harvesting on a sustainable basis. Cleanup crews failed to keep the oil slick off the clam beds and now they cannot be harvested for an indeterminate number of years. Yet this was a tiny spill in comparison to what a petroleum tanker carries.

Currently there is a proposal to triple the capacity of the Trans Mountain Pipeline which currently terminates at Metro Vancouver. Hundreds of tankers per year would be transiting the local waters. Standards for the tankers would fail to prevent a mucky mess of the shores and devastate many small towns in this beautiful part of the province.

It takes money to run a modern country. Oil is a money maker for some private citizens as well. Canadians need to ask if the inevitable spills should trump the rights of the “little people” who live lightly on the shores.

Further Reading:
Campbell River Tourism      
The Tyee Club                              
Conversations for Responsible EconomicDevelopment                 
Location: Campbell River, BC, Canada

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Abandoned Oil Pipelines What Lurks Below?

Image
These photos were taken July 2012 in the historic Turner Valley, Alberta B. McPherson Controversy over new oil pipelines is reaching boiling point in many circles. Heated debate is taking place over the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway and Keystone Pipeline proposals. Safety, disruption to landowners  and more are being weighed against the money to be made transporting and selling petroleum products. It got me thinking about the old pipelines. What happens to a pipeline when it is too old to use or not needed? It’s a bit of an Alice in Wonderland scene. The US laws and regulations are different from ours in Canada. The Pipeline and Gas Journal is a source of information about abandoned pipelines in Texas. Apparently a pipeline in Texas may be abandoned by a company, but it still retains ownership and may choose to reactivate the line at a later date. In the meantime, the right of way or easement is no longer maintained, but the through which the pipe extends is not ...
Read more

Prince Rupert Says No to Enbridge Pipeline

Image
B. McPherson Prince Rupert city council joined a growing list of BC coastal communities that are saying “No” to the Enbridge proposal to build a twinned pipeline from Edmonton to the coast. The decision of the Prince Rupert city politicians was unanimous. Already the village of Kitimaat, Terrace and the Skeena Queen Charlottes Regional District have voiced their opposition to the project. There are ongoing hearings by a federal court appointed Joint Review Panel which are gathering input from interested parties about the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline which would bring crude petroleum from the oil sands of Alberta to the coast of British Columbia. The proposal would see a twinned pipeline run over the Rocky Mountains and through wilderness to the treacherous west coast. The proposed terminus at Kitimat would require tankers to wend their way through the maze of islands and reefs to load up at the head of Douglas Channel. While the hearings and the finding...
Read more

Scientists Beginning to Sound Warnings About Atmospheric Nitrogen Compounds

Image
B. McPherson                                                 This short film explains very well the greenhouse effect on Earth. While the world is focussing on the production and release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, other gasses are quietly adding to the catastrophe. Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and nitrous oxide is 300 times more efficient at keeping the Earth warmed. While much of the Earth’s atmosphere is made up of the element nitrogen, it is the nitrogen in reactive compounds that is starting to worry atmospheric scientists. The Green Revolution was made possible by the industrial production of chemical fertilizers. It, combined with antibiotics has allowed the Earth’s population of humans to swell from 1.6 billion at the beginning of the 20 th century to seven billion this year. Nitrogen is a key nutrient in plant growth. Unfor...
Read more