Tahltan Cultural Property Protected
December 12, 2007Members of a northern BC First Nation have won a court injunction preventing Shell Canada Ltd. from destroying cultural property and archaeological evidence where the company proposes to build a road, approximately 100 kilometers south of Dease Lake.
Members of a northern BC First Nation have won a court injunction preventing Shell Canada Ltd. from destroying cultural property and archeological evidence where the company proposes to build a road, approximately 100 kilometers south of Dease Lake.
The injunction, granted December 10 to the Iskut elders organization Klabona Keepers, halted Shell's march towards the Sacred Headwaters of the Nass, Skeena and Stikine Rivers, where it hopes to drill for coalbed methane later this winter. The area is also referred to as Klappan.
The site where the cultural property was discovered is located at kilometer 29 on the abandoned BC Rail grade east of Highway 37, which has provided road access to the Sacred Headwaters since its construction in the 1960s. A major washout last spring destroyed part of the grade, which Shell has been attempting to re-establish by relocating the road.
After being notified of the cultural heritage resources in the area, Shell retained archeological consultants Golder Associates, who recommended the site be protected under BC’s Heritage Conservation Act.
The interim injunction, issued by Mr. Justice Hinkson in Vancouver court, is effective until the BC Archaeology Branch makes a final decision.
The injunction, granted December 10 to the Iskut elders organization Klabona Keepers, halted Shell's march towards the Sacred Headwaters of the Nass, Skeena and Stikine Rivers, where it hopes to drill for coalbed methane later this winter. The area is also referred to as Klappan.
The site where the cultural property was discovered is located at kilometer 29 on the abandoned BC Rail grade east of Highway 37, which has provided road access to the Sacred Headwaters since its construction in the 1960s. A major washout last spring destroyed part of the grade, which Shell has been attempting to re-establish by relocating the road.
After being notified of the cultural heritage resources in the area, Shell retained archeological consultants Golder Associates, who recommended the site be protected under BC’s Heritage Conservation Act.
The interim injunction, issued by Mr. Justice Hinkson in Vancouver court, is effective until the BC Archaeology Branch makes a final decision.
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