2,268 barrels of oil spilled last year might seem like a tiny amount to of oil to an oil giant like Enbridge but it's a lot of oil to end up in your back yard. The Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline has the capacity to ship 191,625,000 barrels of oil a year. At Enbridge's current spill rate we could expect 2000 barrels of oil to be spilled every 4 years. That's 318,000 litres.
No matter how good Enbridge's spill record is there is no getting around the fact that where oil is shipped, oil is spilled.
Prince George, B.C.- The Northern
Gateway Pipeline project Vice President of Government and Public
Affairs says his company’s spill record needs to be looked at
in correlation to the amount of product it handles. “Of the 2,268
barrels of oil lost in 2008, the vast majority of spills happened
within our pump stations or tank farms” says Steven Greenaway. “That
2,268 barrels is less than 3/10,000ths of one percent of the 800
million of barrels we shipped last year, that’s a pretty good record.”
Greenaway was on the Meisner program
on CFIS FM this morning, responding to concerns from First Nations
groups about the environmental impacts of the dual pipeline project
that would carry oil from Alberta to a marine terminal in Kitimat, and
condensate from Kitimat back to Alberta. The Carrier Sekani tribal
Chief, David Luggi, says the lines have to cross many streams and
rivers, and he is very concerned about the impact of a pipeline leak,
or break. “This is proven technology” says Greenaway “Our lines already
cross hundreds of rivers, including the Athabasca and the North and
South Saskatchewan, this is not something we take lightly.”
Today and tomorrow, there is a First
Nations Energy Summit underway in Moricetown. While the theme is listed
as “Inform and Inspire” no one from the Northern Gateway project was
invited to attend the two day session to address any questions or
concerns about the project. Today, the Summit is open only to First
Nations delegates, but tomorrow, the general public is invited to
attend.
Greenaway says the project is just
weeks away from releasing details on how First Nations can become
equity partners in the project. “We have spent months working behind
the scenes on an equity offer we can bring to First Nations” he says
the principles of the deal will ensure the offer is not out of the
financial reach to those who want to take part.
As Enbridge has held some 19 open
houses in communities along the proposed route of the pipeline,
Greenaway says opposition at this point is a little premature “I think
in some ways there has been a rush to judgement on this project. We
need time to collect people’s concerns, address those concerns and
bring that back to the people.”
Greenaway says the Carrier-Sekani
Tribal Council already supports the Pacific Trails project which would
see the development of a Liquid Natural Gas pipeline to a marine
terminal in Kitimat “I am hopeful that through that experience they
will want to become involved in the Northern Gateway project. If not as
equity partners, then by sharing their knowledge of the environmental
concerns in the area and helping us design the pipeline. I look forward
to and welcome those discussions.”
