GreenWatch

B. McPherson Enbridge Group that moves petroleum products has faced stiff opposition from environmentalists in its push to move Tar Sands bitumen to Canada’s coastlines. Increasing opposition from British Columbians to their scheme to build a pipeline to the Pacific Coast has them looking at pipelines to the east that they already control. Those pipelines have been configured to carry refined, imported oil from the Atlantic Coast, west to Ontario and Quebec. Enbridge has applied to reconfigure them to carry the sandy petroleum product to the coastal refineries on the Atlantic coast or for export to foreign countries. The plan was to start moving the diluted bitumen(dilbit) in Line 9B in November. While one of the things that Enbridge likes to emphasize in attempting to convince people that their pipelines would be an asset, is the safety of moving petroleum products by pipeline. Today the Canadian Energy Board put paid to that premise when they ruled that Enbridge’s ...

B. McPherson If You Build It, It Will Leak The oil pipeline company that is lobbying to build an oil pipeline through British Columbia has had a leak of one of its major pipeline systems. Line 37 which serves as a link from the Alberta Oil Sands to Hardesty Alberta, has had to be shut down after a leak was discovered near Fort McMurray. The company estimates that between 500 and 750 barrels of oil escaped containment. There is speculation that the record breaking rainfall in Alberta may have caused the sodden earth to shift, breaking the pipeline. A crew will have to be dispatched to the scene for confirmation. There is the danger, that other pipelines which criss-cross the province will fail in the aftermath of the widespread flooding. Early in the epic floods, a sour gas pipeline ruptured near the town of Black Diamond in the Turner Valley. Enbridge is unable to communicate with the media efficiently at this time because their head office is in downtown Calgary which r...

B. McPherson Enbridge wants us to believe that their pipelines are safe. This one hasn't leaked -- yet. It lies exposed in an Ontario river. Enbridge has applied to the National Energy Board to allow it to reverse the flow of oil in its Line 9 pipeline. Between Sarnia and Montreal, the company wants to be able to ship Alberta oil to the Suncor refinery in Montreal. It is being touted as a move to achieve energy security for Canada. Canada imports about half the oil used in the country while at the same time shipping oil south to refineries on the Gulf Coast. Others are not so enthusiastic about the plan. Enbridge has admitted that they might want to ship oil sands bitumen through Line 9 at a later date. The bitumen is loaded with sand and will have a sandpaper effect on the inside of the pipes. Currently, the 60 year old conduit has only carried sweet, light petroleum. Some are even more outspoken. A former employee is quoted on CBC who thinks this is a revival of ...

B. McPherson The 7.7 earthquake off the BC coast on Saturday night raises new questions about the safety of bringing more supertankers to Kitimat. Enbridge Corporation is in the process of trying to get approval for a twinned pipeline through BC for its Tar Sands bitumen. When the earthquake hit the islands of Haida Gwai (Queen Charlotte Islands) there was little damage done and no fatalities. The islands are sparsely populated which helped lower the danger. The massive earthquake shook the ground hundreds of miles away in Alberta. We usually see a tsunami accompany such a large land slip. Destructive tsunamis hitting the coast of Japan in 2011 showed the world the destructive power of the ocean. The BC earthquake generated tsunami warnings and alerts, but generated only small waves along the coast and Hawaii. The coast of British Columbia is the most active in N. America and part of the Ring of Fire that circles the Pacific Ocean. This is the area that Enbridge wi...

B.McPherson Grassroots people are coming together on October 22 in Victoria BC to show the provincial government that the coast is not for sale. If you can, help swell the numbers on October 22 in a show of peaceful solidarity. The following is from a group calling themselves defendourcoast: In a little over a week, you and almost 2000 other supporters have logged on to our website and pledged to Defend Our Coast. Thank you for your support in the first week of the launch and for sharing it with your family, friends, colleagues, and allies. On October 22nd, we will meet in Victoria and join together for a non-violent direct action to tell Christy Clark and Stephen Harper that our coast cannot be sold off for pipelines and tankers. The action on Monday, October 22nd will be an act of peaceful civil disobedience meaning that arrest is a possibility. We will have a legal analysis that we will send out to everyone soon so you know exactly what the legal risks are and wil...

B. McPherson Would you kill this magnificent creature and hang it on a wall? The alliance of Coastal First Nations have declared a ban on trophy hunting for bears in their traditional territories. Protection of bears will be monitored and enforced by a coalition of ten nations including the Haida from Haida Gwai(formerly Queen Charlotte Islands). In a strong statement issued on September 12, Kitasoo/Xaixais Chief Doug Neasloss declared that the bears will be protected by any means. This is the result of several years of working with the provincial government to halt trophy hunting. "Despite years of effort by the Coastal First Nations to find a resolution to this issue with the Province this senseless and brutal trophy hunt continues.” Chief Doug Neasloss First Nations spokesman pointed out that the trophy hunters often shoot their quarry by the shoreline where they come to look for food. The native people are not against a food hunt, but that the tr...

B. McPherson   This video covers just another of Enbridge's leaky pipelines. Enbridge Inc. has had a spill of about 1400 barrels(230 000 litres) of crude oil north of Edmonton. Their Athabasca pipeline normally carries 345 000 barrels of oil per day. The company employees rerouted around the pumping station and commenced pumping operations until the Alberta regulatory agency ordered a shut down. This is the second significant oil spill this month. The Red River, farms, ranches, low lying land and lakes have been fouled by the black sludge. "Once again Albertans are left to deal with the toxic effects of yet another pipeline spill in Alberta," said Mike Hudema, climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace. "This latest spill comes from the company that wants to build mega-tar sands pipelines to both the East and West coasts, Enbridge." YahooFinance I looked up “Enbridge Spill” hoping to get some up to date information on the latest fouli...

B. McPherson In an interview on national television this morning a leader of the Yinka Dene Alliance spoke with quiet conviction about their opposition to the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline.   The Alliance were in Toronto in order to attend Enbridge’s AGM to explain again why they will not let the pipeline through their traditional territory. I was drinking my first cup of coffee for the day and didn’t catch the dignified woman’s name. She quietly explained that they represented over 130 First Nations groups in the province of BC and had gathered support from other indigenous people as they travelled from Vancouver to Toronto. Not just indigenous Canadians support their action, over 100 000 have taken the time to sign petitions against the scheme. Her words were striking when she said, “We are the wall. Enbridge shall not pass.” “We are going to stop this pipeline, and we are proud to have the vast majority of people in BC standing behind us." Mar...

B. McPherson The Exxon Valdes oil tanker has been sold to an Indian company and is likely headed for dismantling. Today is the 23 rd anniversary of the grounding of the Exxon Valdes on Bligh Reef in Alaska. It was one of the largest oil spills in North American history releasing nearly 11 million barrels of oil into Prince William Sound and sending an oil slick 470 miles to foul beaches and kill wildlife.  A jury looking at the circumstances leading up to the grounding on the reef assessed damages at about $5 billion but Exxon in Supreme Court had that reduced to one tenth, about $500 million. Ref. ABC News  Alaska is still waiting for final compensation payments. In some ways, we should thank Exxon and Captain Joseph Hazelwood for alerting us to the catastrophe that an oil spill wreaks on the environment and the people who live there. Twenty-three years later the once pristine beaches are still fouled.Thick oil lurks just below the surface on the beaches...

A pipeline owned by Enbridge broke in July 2010. About a million gallons of crude oil spilled into a tributary to the Kalamazoo River. The oil still lurks in the water. Their pledge to help the environment and the people nearby rings pretty hollow these days. Hearings are ongoing in Canada as to whether to allow Enbridge build an oil pipeline from Alberta to the BC coast. Ask yourself if you want this running through your neighbourhood. Accidents can happen, but we expect the person or entity responsible to clean up the mess, not cover it up. John Bolenbaugh has put his life on the line trying to get justice for the environment and the people harmed by Enbridge's Kalamazoo oil spill.

By B. McPherson This is some of the environment that would be put at risk with oil tankers traversing the treacherous seaways. Native elders and chiefs spoke in Kitimaat Village today regarding the proposed routing of the Gateway twinned pipelines through the Great Bear Rain Forest to the west coast of British Columbia. One of the Chiefs who spoke today expressed concern regarding the routing of the pipeline, likening the risk to his people as a double-barrelled shotgun. Pipeline spills through the sensitive land area plus the hundreds of oil laden tankers threading their way through the twisted canal leading to the town of Kitimat are very real dangers to the pristine environment. The Haisla are facing a double-barrelled shotgun by the bringing of that oil by pipeline and shipping it by sea," Hereditary Chief Ken Hall told the opening day of environmental hearings into the project. "The pipeline threatens our grandchildren," he said Tuesday. "It...

By B. McPherson Hearings are scheduled to start in Kitimat, BC, to hear the public speak about their interest in the proposed Enbridge Gateway Pipeline that is proposed to dig its way through the Great Bear Rain Forest to bring crude oil from the Alberta oil sands to the BC coast at the end of Douglas Channel. The Calgary based company has proposed the construction of twin pipelines that would snake from outside of Edmonton to the village of Kitimat. One pipeline would carry crude oil west while the second pipeline would carry the solvent needed to make the crude flow, east for reuse. Enbridge is the same company that has its megaproject in the US stalled, the Keystone Pipeline. The proposed route through British Columbia is a poor choice because it targets the untouched temperate rain forest, it ends at the head of a tortuous fiord, and many of the native land claims involving this land have yet to be settled. Prime Minister Harper has stated that a pipeline ...