Campaign Blog
Enbridge finds no love in Northwest B.C. communities in February
Posted Feb 18
By Tyler McCreary
Thursday, February 17, Enbridge hosted a Community Technical Information Session on its proposed Northern Gateway pipeline in the Houston Community Hall. Following three previous community information sessions in Kitimat, Burns Lake, and Prince George, as well as a public forum in Terrace, the Houston forum concluded the February installment of Enbridge community engagement exercises.
The proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline would extend from Alberta to a new marine terminal in Kitimat, British Columbia, carrying up to 525,000 barrels of oil per day to port. The pipeline would cross the territories of over 50 First Nations communities, as well as 785 watercourses.
Enbridge designed their community technical information sessions to highlight their environmental and risk management strategies, as well as the local opportunities the pipeline would present. However, Enbridge’s offers often found a hostile welcome in local communities.
In their February 15th meeting in Prince George, the five First Nations belonging to the Yinka Dene Alliance soundly rejected the project. Chief Larry Nooski of Nadleh Whut’en and Chief Jackie Thomas of Saik’uz, two First Nations belonging to the alliance, spoke passionately against the project. “Enbridge knows it can’t guarantee there will be no oil spills into our rivers. Their promises and their money are no good to us,” Chief Thomas clearly stated. “We won’t trade the safety of our rivers, lands and fish that are our lifeblood.”
Read the full text of this article on Rabble.ca
