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  • 7/31/2019 Kitimat JRP Summary

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    Joint Review Panel Hearings

    Kitimat, June 25 and 26, 2012

    Te National Energy Boards Joint Review Panel (JRP) community hearings were heldin Kitimat on June 25 and 26, 2012. In an attempt to provide you with a sense of whatis being said at these hearings, we have selected excerpts from the presentations andwill continue to do so through to the end of the hearings in July. For those of youwishing to read the complete text of a statement, it is available on the JRP website:gatewaypanel.review-examen.gc.ca/clf-nsi/prtcptngprcss/hrng-eng.html

    I have spent hundreds o hours looking at Enbridges risk

    assessment, management o spills, emergency response and many1,000 page documents. As an emergency response team leader,

    search manager with incident command training and local knowledgeo large incidents in this area, reading these documents has

    abbergasted me. Te documented risk assessments and managementto spill responses are seriously decient and woeully lacking insubstance. Tey do not take into consideration the rugged terrain,the climatic conditions and dangers o ast owing moving water.

    Lets compare the past two years and worst-case on the Kitimat River.September 2011, heavy rain caused a dramatic increase in river levelswithin 24 hours. Tis is a normal occurrence. And the river widens

    by 75 yards in some locations. I have personally witnessed tree atertree, including 100 oot trees with ull root balls 20-eet in diameterbarrelling down this river. Te Kitimat River ow at that time,72,000 cubic eet a second, some 18 times more than the Kalamazoo

    River. Teres not one qualied incident commander that would evenconsider sending out emergency responders into that raging river. Manny Arruda

    I believe that oil is an amazing resource, but its a nite resource

    and I think we have an ethical obligation to conserve some o it oruture generations. We also have an ethical obligation to extractit and use it in a way that doesnt irreversibly harm the world that

    they will inherit. Were not doing that right now. As ar as I can tell,

    theres no overall plan or the development o the tar sands otherthan to get as much o it out o the ground as ast as possible so thateveryone with a stake in it can get as rich as quickly as possible. So

    to me, the tar sands represent the greed o the current generationstealing a resource rom uture generations without any regard as tohow it will impact them. As an alternative, we could use our creativityand ingenuity to ocus more on how we can reduce our energy

    consumption and develop renewable energy sources. Lani Gibson

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    My working time at Kitimat was spent as a project engineer at

    Eurocan Pulp and Paper Company. I have been exposed to manytypes o projects and industrial processes. Lots o time was spenttroubleshooting ailures throughout the mill. No matter how hard we

    tried to do our best, things ailed or as they oten said, shit happens.Pipes, gaskets would ail; tanks would collapse; equipment wouldbreak. We even had SRBs in our stainless tanks. Many items wouldail with such power that it would resemble an explosion. My largest

    project at Eurocan, a 300-tonne per day CMP pulp mill, actually had10 -- thats it, 10 major ailures within the rst one to two years aterstart-up. Development o a large oil tanker system will inevitablylead to an oil spill in our waters. Tis will cause irreparable or at least

    long-term damage that will ruin the way o lie or the peoples o thenorth coast. Why should we take all o the risk or the prot o theoil companies? Why do I, amily, and riends, need to lose all o the

    opportunities to enjoy the great times sailing on the Douglas Channeland nearby waters? What would become o the natural hot springsalong the coast? What o the shoreline walks; what o the salmon,halibut, cod and crab that so many shermen ply the waters or and

    enjoy the proceeds at the dinner table? How would they taste soaked

    in dilbit? Terry Brown

    Im not an expert in politics but whats been going on recently with government cuts to research

    acilities related to marine health, climate change, shortening the timeline or environmental reviewprocess, and the gutting o the Fisheries Act, just last week, appear to me to be directly related topushing this project through by suppressing scientic studies and inormation that might prove that

    this project is not such a good idea. I believe that this proposed pipeline is the perect example o thecorporate good superseding the public good. Malcolm Graham

    I took these calculations one step urther. I wondered what the

    probability that at least one o the locations, the pipeline, theKitimat erminal or the marine, would have a spill during the 50-year project. Tis is the combined risk o the whole project, not justsingling out one specic area. Tis is the real risk o the entire project.

    I chose a medium-size spill because this was the only categorythere was complete comparable data in each o the three areas. Teonly dierence is the medium-size leaks or spills or the pipeline

    in Kitimat erminal are up to one million litres, where a medium-size spill on the marine portion is up to 20 million litres. Using theappropriate mathematical ormula, the probability that at least oneo the locations will experience a medium-size leak or spill over the

    50-year proposed project is 29.7 percent. Tis is the real chance o aleak or spill. Tis is the expected chance o a leak or spill. o Enbridge,this is the cost o doing business, the cost o doing business that iscleverly disguised deep within the volumes o inormation rom the

    application reports or this proposed project. How can Enbridge call29.7 percent chance o a medium-size spill or leak small or minimal?Enbridge states in its application, A spill is very unlikely to occur.

    Just because you say something over and over again doesnt make ittrue. Kelly Marsh

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    I Kitimat is to grow, its to benet our town, province and country,not just China reaping all the rewards. We deserve to be validatedas our parents did when many o them let their countries and came

    to work here, not let with a pipeline that will benet no one but thegreedy corporations. So beore we are to pursue this, we have to thinkabout all the outcomes, both positive and negative.

    Mary Monteiro

    I have been ortunate to share in the bounty o Mother Earththrough the resources that have been provided to me by my

    ather, my uncles, my grandather, my husband, my brothers, mynephews and just community members in general and that o othercommunity members that we trade with. Its my lieblood. It is who Iam. Each year -- each year we start the process o harvesting or our

    winter. We start the process o teaching our children to prepare orthe winter. Its a process that we teach our children to bond with theiramily, to bond with the earth. And to remove that is removing the

    Haisla rom the earth, and thats what you will do i you allow this

    pipeline to go through. Nancy Nyce

    Te world seems very backwards. Money and power seems to be the

    most important thing to our Prime Minister. He has a majority, so Ibelieve its gone to his head and he is doing whatever he eels like. Tetaxpayers dollars are paying or his trips to China. We see his smilingace as he sells out our country one resource at a time. Im hoping

    the next election will bring in someone who actually cares about ourcountry. Im a proud British Columbian and even prouder Canadian,but I am very ashamed o our ederal government.

    Katherina Ouwehand

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    Te Alberta Federation o Labour commissioned a study to nd

    how many Canadian jobs would be lost by exporting 400,000barrels per day o unrened bitumen, and it was ound that 20,000

    jobs were lost. Te Northern Gateway Pipeline will start exportingunrened bitumen at 525,000 barrels per day, then will increase

    to 850,000 barrels per day, resulting in tens o thousands o morelost jobs or Canadians. Over 70 percent o the tar sands is oreignowned. Some companies who may want to upgrade or rene theirbitumen in Alberta cannot do so because oreign companies have

    veto power and can insist that the bitumen is exported unrened.o make matters worse, a oreign petrochemical company withover 500,000 employees, which is owned and controlled by a

    Communist government, intends to bid on the building on theNorthern Gateway pipelines. So this means, in addition to all thelost upgrading and rening jobs, a majority o the Canadian pipelineconstruction workers and material suppliers who may have beneted

    rom building the pipelines will be let out. It is mind-bogglingto accept that this proposal is in the best interests o Canadians.Rather, it appears to benet the long-term energy needs o a oreignCommunist government whose greatest strength is the lack o any

    real environmental pollution control laws at home and a seeminglyendless supply o desperate people willing to work or next to nothingand who also have no real rights as individuals or o workers.

    Murray Minchin

    I am araid o Enbridge because it represents much more thana pipeline; Enbridge is an enabler o all the things that make us

    ashamed to be Canadian. Do we want a Canada that endangers thewhole world by contributing to global warming? Do we want a Canadathat muzzles scientists who dont say what the oil companies wantthem to say? Do we eel proud when Canada puts up roadblocks totreaties with other countries so that oil companies can continue to

    pollute? Do we really want a Canada that preers temporary oreignworkers to be used and, in many cases, abused, just to provideoil companies with cheap labour? Wouldnt it be more ethical to

    encourage immigrants to come to Canada to make permanent homesand actually contribute to the country? Once we were proud oCanadas leadership in protecting the environment, both in Canadaand world-wide. Now we have sold out to the highest bidders and by

    so doing we are jeopardizing our very sovereignty. We cannot enterinto agreements to limit pollution because the big oil companies whoown our resources wont allow it. Once we were the worlds good guys,the peacekeepers, the ones who were caretakers o the environment

    and o endangered species. Now its all about money. Now we areat the bottom o the heap, along with other money-grubbers o theworld.

    Margaret Ouwehand

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    Im here as an act o love. I eel I owe it to my home, to Kitimat, tocome in to speak. I ask you to reject this project. I do not eel its inthe best interests or the people o this community or or our countryas a whole. Im here to speak or those that cannot speak. So or every

    creature o the sea, or every creature o the earth that does nothave a human voice that cannot say no, Im here to say no. My soul isvery connected to this land, to Kitimat in particular, to the water. Itsustains me, not only with ood, with sh, but emotionally, I need the

    water. I need to be close to the water, sometimes in the water just toeel complete.

    Erika Prett

    Te spill into the Kalamazoo has cost nearly three-quarters o a billion dollars and the costs are stillclimbing. It wasnt as large as the spill that Enbridge themselves acknowledged could happen here and

    it wasnt into a world-class shing habitat, nor was it a spill into a tidal setting. Enbridge claims theclean-up was harder than they thought due in part to the high water ows at the time. Right now, most

    o B.C. is reporting ood levels they havent seen in 40 years. Tere are many concerns I have with thisproject. One is some o the datasets Enbridge is using in their models seem to be very narrow in scope,especially when it comes to the marine aspect o this project. Tey have used data collected over a

    relatively short period o time to make some long-term predictions. Gordon Ouwehand

    For those o us that call coastal British Columbia home, the existing environment, sh, wildlie, andassociated values are the oundation o who we are. It is those values that oster and nurture many

    amily bonds and are the result o cherished memories with loved ones and riends. It is those values

    that provide a healthy liestyle and ood source. It is those values that support numerous traditionsand are the base o revered culture. It is those values that the Northern Gateway Project ultimatelythreatens to extinguish. oday I wish to have my voice heard in opposition o the Northern Gateway

    Project and that the benets o the Northern Gateway Project oers pale in comparison to the risks weare being to ask to shoulder, environmentally, socially, culturally and economically. Michael Langegger

    I wholeheartedly support the over 130 First Nations in western Canada that have stated their

    opposition to Enbridges proposed Northern Gateway Project. Opposed First Nations orm an unbrokenchain across B.C. and rom the U.S. border to the Arctic Ocean, the First Nations position being thatthis project will violate their Constitutionally-protected Aboriginal title and rights and that Enbridge

    pipeline and tankers are against their laws. I also ully support the two declarations against Enbridge,the rst being the Coastal First Nations Declaration, which bans crude oil supertankers on the NorthCoast, and the second, the Save the Fraser Declaration, which bans tar sands pipelines through theFraser River watershed and tankers on the North and South Coasts. I ask you and, through you, the

    ederal government, to rst listen, then honour and respect the voices o all the people. Reg Roy

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    When the traders and the missionaries came in in the late 1800sand the culture was orbidden, these people lost. Tey were takenaway. Teir children were taken away. Tey lost a lot o their culture.

    Just a ew short years ago, our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper,

    apologized or taking the amilies away, orbidding their culture, andhas engaged in a process to -- like the truth and reconciliation styleo process. But what hasnt happened is taking the time to help the

    culture restore their traditions, their amily lines and their culture. Merv Ritchie

    Our ear that uture trips down the Channel are going to be marred by the presence o giganticoncoming supertankers o mind-boggling dimensions, each carrying more than two million barrels

    o oil; their size, larger than Kitimats whole city-centre mall; longer than two ootball elds with adrat below the water line o 70 eet which means, in other words, deeper than the highest building in

    Kitimat. ourists and locals alike could expect to encounter in excess o 1,000 tankers transits to andro rom the Port o Kitimat. Tats unbelievable the changes coming our way. Te numerous naturalgas tankers are threatening enough, but the oil ones with their cargos o suspended tar are more than

    we can bear. Imagine boating with your amily and grandkids down to Sue Channel or Gilttoyees Inletwhen a giant hulk o a tanker looms suddenly out o the rain in ront o you. With its huge bow wakeand its ominous cargo o bitumen, it would be like something out o a horror movie.

    Walter Thorne

    I do not see this as -- I do not see this pipeline -- or do not wantto see this pipeline built. I do not believe it is in anyones bestinterest except or Stephen Harper and China. I am certainly notwilling to risk my amilys uture to some big oil company that

    thinks they can bulldoze or pay their way in. I am not an activistor an environmentalist or a Harper radical. I am simply a woman,a daughter, a wie, and a mother, who must stand up and voice my

    opinion beore we lose everything that we hold dear. I sit here beoreyou and I say, no to the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline Project.I would like to thank all those who spoke today and those who arescheduled to speak. Getting up in ront o an audience to speak about

    something very personal is very scary and you must be applauded or

    being so very brave.

    I must say, beore I leave, that you were all much braver than our

    mayor and council who still reuse to take a stand on this project.And it saddens me that the ones we voted in to be our voice arereusing to do so.

    Kelly Ru

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    Good aternoon. Im here today just to say that I dont believethe pipeline is a good thing or this part o our -- part o the worldbecause o all the damages that can be done, the loss o lie, wildlie,

    the loss o all our rivers that are around. Everything right rommoose to the deer to the seal, the eagles, everything depends onour system, our water systems. Im not going to be sitting here and

    talking, you know, orever and ever. Just the point is loud and clearthat we all agree in this courthouse that Enbridge, the oil pipeline,is not a good thing at all because how do we -- how do we make shtaste like smoked sh? How do we make eulachons taste like smoked

    eulachons and how do we make grease? Because once the pipelinebreaks, all in our waters over here, the sh all swim through it. Oneway or another, theyll be into the oil stream.

    Jim Wilson

    We are now hearing o oil spills on a regular basis. Its a commonoccurrence to a point we think, Well, whats the big deal; its onlya ew more thousand barrels on the ground. Its ruining peoples

    lives, their property and their arm animals. Its at a point wethink its normal. Years ago, in the States, one o the large chemicalcompanies, during a hearing -- I was watching this on .V. -- said

    its the governments ault or letting our company pollute. It wasthe governments ault that they didnt enorce the laws. It was thegovernments ault that it allowed lobbyists to lobby and water downexisting rules. So the companies basically said, not our ault; it wasyour government. As we have more spills and more spills, we already

    -- we are already down the same road. We are accepting things weshould not accept as the norm.

    Leo De Sousa

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    I love Kitimat and the whole northwest. I love its beauty and its

    wholesomeness. Te thought o an oil spill, whether through a pipebreak or rom an oil tanker, terries me. Over the past ew years, Ihave attended many presentations and inormation sessions romwhich I have considered the pros and cons o this project, and I know

    that you have and continue to as well. We have the acts and thegures. We have the data and the science. I dont think that we haveto go over every detail o inormation collected to realize that thecons ar outweigh the pros. Te truth is the truth; oil spills happen

    and they happen oten, and these oil spills can never totally becleaned up. Te acts, gures and science are there in black and white.One could argue the severity o the consequences or how accurate the

    acts are. One could downplay the potential danger, but the truth isthe truth; the project is reckless and dangerous. Maria Sylvia De Sousa

    Im lucky enough to work or an organization that works on

    sheries management issues and salmon conservation in the SkeenaWatershed. So it was this work that oered an opportunity or meto travel to Paris, France or the International Seaood Summit o2010. I met shery scientists and biologists, conservationists and

    agents o change rom all over the world. I think, however, that themost important thing that I learned was that my gut was right. I doin act live in an astoundingly unique place. People kept asking me

    questions about the Skeena. Tey had heard o it, but they couldntbelieve what I was telling them. I told my new riends that it isnormal or the average citizen living on the Skeena to have a couple o

    shelves o canned salmon and enough llets in the reezer to get youthrough the winter. I didnt think anything o it. Tis is just the wayit is here, I explained. Tey were in disbelie. Many o them explainedthat they hadnt had wild sh in their rivers or 20 years. Ive alwaysknown inherently how special my home is, but it was at that moment

    and the ollowing couple o days that I truly realized that it is ourresponsibility to protect that, not just or mysel or my partner or myamily, not just or uture generations and not or the First Nations

    that have always called the Skeena Watershed home. But I also realizethat it is our responsibility to the rest o the world to protect thisplace rom the irreversible damage posed by the Enbridge project.

    Julia Hill

    Te Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline is currently running television commercials telling methat they are the path to my uture. I rmly believe this particular uture holds a promise o poisonedwater, barren ground and dead orests.

    Angus MacLeod

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    It is true that this is more than just a pipeline. Its a pathway to large environmental destruction, apathway to more unwanted, imposed government will on the people. Every sighting o these colossal

    ships will send a chill throughout the whole area, right rom Haida Gwaii through to Kitimat people.People will be stopping, holding their breath, hoping that disaster evades them today. Will it? Tewaters and the people here must be protected. Say no to this proposal. Realize this; it is possible that,

    over time, one wreck or grounding o these big boats will set in motion a very bad result, a result thateven smallpox or residential school could not achieve. David Macrae

    My current quality o lie is very high. I have two sustainable jobs, a clean environment that provides

    not just clean air and water, but ood as well. My household consumes at least 200 or more pounds osalmon and 100 pounds or more o halibut and cod a year, not to mention the crab and prawns thatwe harvest as a treat. I derive a great deal o personal satisaction rom providing my amily withrelatively unpolluted and healthy ood rom the river, which the river and channel have to oer us. I a

    spill was to happen and it caused a collapse in sh stocks or pollute them to the point o being inedible,it would have a proound eect on my lie. Te thought o this development has already caused a greatdeal o stress and anxiety or me. I try not to think about it, but it is always on my mind.

    Phillip Dennis

    Because o the said Section 91.24, the Government o Canada must be very careul, legally speaking,with how they interact with me as an Indian. It is my contention that Canada cannot ooad thatresponsibility to the National Energy Board without ree prior and inormed consent o me as an

    Indian, and I claim the status as peoples under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights o

    Indigenous Peoples. And urther to that, the National Energy Board cannot urther ooad itsresponsibility to you as the Joint Review Panel. From that perspective, your status as a consultativebody is null and void and with no standing under current Canadian domestic jurisprudence. Now we go

    on to Section 88 o the Indian Act which states that provincial laws o general application shall applyto Indians. Tat is unconstitutional and is begging or a Constitutional challenge or a challenge underthe newly applied Canadian Human Rights Act, which applies to me as an Indian since 2010. Becauseo Canadas responsibility under Section 91.24, it is unconstitutional or the ederal government to

    ooad responsibility or the management and administration o my aairs under Section 88 o theIndian Act.

    Morris Amos

    Teres dierent parts o our territory and he grew up and its Bagwilas (ph) that ed him and hisamily or his entire existence. As well, in all o his travels, hes witnessed the same type o attachmento other people to their territory, in this community and others as well. As well, he talked about hisconcerns about the halibut and other species in the ocean that an oil spill will undoubtedly harm. He

    spoke also o his happiness with the act that many people rom all walks o lie are stepping orwardto express their own concerns to you about the possibility and the inevitability o an oil spill doingexactly that to our territory.

    Alan Williams (translated by Gerald Amos)

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    As the regional coordinator or PSAC Northwest B.C. Region, Irepresent the public service sector workers or the Department

    o Fisheries, Coastguard, Customs, border crossings, ships crews,lighthouse keepers, grain elevators, justice, unemployment centresand Passport. Recently, many o these jobs have been cut at adramatic pace and the current government promises to continue

    the cuts or the next two years. Tese cuts will aect the saety oall Canadians. Basically, there really is no sae and risk-ree wayto get tar sands oils and pipelines and super tankers across British

    Columbias ecosystem, salmon rivers and streams. o ensure that thepipelines go through with no opposition, the Harper governmenthas gutted the Fisheries and Environmental Acts. Tese Acts are thecornerstone o environmental law in Canada and have been rendered

    useless by the Harper government. How can any sh stocks beprotected when the changes to the Act remove the protection o shhabitats?

    Benilde Gomes

    David Coles, the President o the CEP, 150,000 workers, many o whom are employed in the tar sands,said this quote: Gateway is contrary to our needs or jobs, the economy, environmental protection andFirst Nations rights. Tese our pillars have to be a priority.

    In addition, theres thousands o local jobs at risk by pipeline and supertankers. Considering that the

    commercial shery and tourism industry in B.C. employs 45,000 people, all o these jobs -- a majorityo these jobs could be at risk. Te northwest shing industry alone amounts to $140 million annually.Te ederal government wants to risk these sustainable jobs or a mere 217 jobs, says Arnie Nagy o the

    United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union. John Jensen

    I have said many times, and Ill say it to you as well, that thiscommunity that Ive grown up in has never been opposed to

    development. And the only way I can express it to you is that theconcern that we bring here, that I bring here today and that Ive heardrom others, is that rather than being opposed to anything, whatwere asking you to consider as a Panel is the pace, the scale and, in

    this case, the type o development that we allow into our territory.Te pace, the scale and the type o development is crucial to ourability and capacity to undo or take some measure o control over the

    cumulative impacts that have come with development.In my lietime, weve lost access to the abalone which we used toget out in Gitgaat territory. I havent had a eed o abalone now or25 years because o over shing. Te wrong decision led to, quite

    possibly, the extinction o this resource. In 1970, Eurocan cameinto our area. We attempted, through our Council o the day, andasked them respectully not to build and pollute the Kitimat River.It happened anyway. And it is one o the cumulative issues that

    contributed to the demise o the eulachon run in the Kitimat River,where our community used to harvest 650 tonnes o eulachonannually. In my lietime, thats been taken away. So my question to

    you, are we going to allow this to continue? Because the pace, thescale and the type o development is killing us. Its taking away theidentity o the Haisla people. Its destroying the right o our -- thepeople that come ater us to make decisions o their own.

    Gerald Amos

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    My husband I very much enjoy going out on Douglas Channel with our 17-oot canoe. Every timeweve gone out there, something special has happened. It is so quiet and peaceul that you can heareverything. We have had many seals come up behind us unannounced.

    I know we wont be able to go out paddling in our canoe when the supertankers start coming up the

    channel. Our canoe is meant or a bit o rough water, but not the kind o wave that a supertankerwould make. Tat kind o wave would just push us around like we were a lea or a eather oatingsilently. Tis is my nightmare. I am paddling in the bow o the canoe and all o a sudden this enormous

    black wall is there, and it starts sucking us right down underneath it into the black void. Lucy McRae

    I remember soon ater arriving in Kitimat getting involved in discussions aimed at extending themoratorium on oshore exploration. At one meeting I asked someone who had had the opportunity to

    visit Aberdeen and asked them how the environment had been aected. He just looked at me and saidWhat environment? He was right. We run the world using a business model or ree market economy,but this is a planet. Its not a corner store with an inexhaustible supply o everything we could everwant. Tis is not the way my household runs. Tere is more to lie than the bottom line.

    Peter Ponter

    Because o this project, I joined a political party. I used to vote onissues; not a party. I was unaware o most political nastiness. I wasbusy living my lie, raising my amily, paying my bills, being a good

    citizen. Now, because o this project and all the changes to Bill 38related to the oil and gas industry and other large corporations thatmake it easier to walk all over

    Canadian rights and the protection o us. Why? Because a ew o ushad the nerve to stand up and disagree with the oil and gas big boys.Tis project has divided communities, provinces and the country.Divide and conquer is the large corporations claim to ame. Nobody

    wants a dilbit pipeline in their backyard or in their wilderness,period. Its caused arguments with amily members that have neverbeen here to see the route or research this project.

    Tracy Petley

    Tis is not stable ground. Its very vertical and we have a very unique environment in that regard.Te landslides, the avalanches, the oods, they happen with tremendous orce and they are notcontrollable. But again, I say when something happens to the pipeline, containment and clean-up will

    be next to or absolutely impossible. Tis area gets such a great deal o snow in the winter and rain,

    o course, in the summer and springs. In the most volatile areas where I expect the landslides candamage things, where the highest risk is, access to those areas can take many days. It could possiblytake weeks. It may even be measured in months. Some o them you cant get there. It doesnt matter

    what resources you have, you cant get there in a reasonable time. And because it is so vertical, as soonas it leaks, its going to the water regardless o what the material is. Youre not going to stop it. And it isimmediately widely distributed to our water systems, killing the sh and the wildlie and the situation

    we would not be able to clean up regardless o the resources that are available. Tat damage, as we allunderstand, lasts or generations. Rick Reinert

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    I am concerned that these corporate aults and human error will cause an incredible amount o

    destruction within our ecosystem here in the Kitimat Valley watershed. Such incidents have thepotential to cause severe and irreversible damage and the permanent collapse o the local resh waterand marine ecosystem o the entire Kitimat River valley and estuary and the Douglas Channel andpoints beyond and to have a severely destructive eect on all surrounding areas. In orwarding this

    Northern Gateway Pipeline proposal, the Board o Directors and the employees o Enbridge Oil, alongwith Stephen Harper and the Conservative government o Canada, propose to place these threatsupon the health -- the health and the wellbeing o my children, my grandchildren and uture Haislagenerations. I am concerned the Federal Conservative Party has no interest in the protection o our

    environment and the ecosystem which is the basis o the natural world. Greg Robinson

    I want to tell you that I eel this entire exercise has been a microcosm and a repeat o how we as asociety treat First Nations people in this country. It is a travesty. It shames me as a Canadian and as a

    white person. Unless we undamentally start recognizing and respecting First Nations people and their

    communities, not only their Aboriginal rights and title but their role as historic stewards, we will neverheal. I eel the way Enbridge has behaved in the boardrooms, in the media, and in the valley with the

    Haisla people is indicative o the way corporations and governments perpetuate the way society treatsindigenous people in general. Te attitude o let us tell you what you need is shameul, sad, and Imembarrassed or you.

    Coastal First Nations communities have been clear in their opposition to the project. It baes me that

    we are even at this point. Why are we still talking about this? Tey have said no bitumen, no oil in theirterritory. Tey do not need to be schooled in what is good or their communities or or their uture.Tey know who they are. In closing, again I will say Im opposed to the pipeline, to this project, and or

    no other reason but at the end o today and at the end o my days, my three children will ask me what Idid. Veronica Slalina

    Our great ederal government has said, and I paraphrase this one,

    the environmentalists that oppose Enbridge are just radicals and akinto terrorists. What does this mean? It means theyre scared. Teyrecalling us names. Te denition o radical is extreme, especially asregards to change, avouring drastic political, economic and social

    reorms. So a radical is really anyone who would want this hugechange to our environment and planet, not the people who want tostop it. Another thing the government says, environmentalists are

    always just undamentally opposed to development. I am in avour

    o development, but sustainable development. Government want aquick buck at the cost o our uture and uture development will loseour shing, hunting, logging, arming, tourism. Im even in avour

    o pipelines, slightly. Te LNG pipeline is not as destructive to ourenvironment as this Enbridge proposal and produces ar more jobs,as they will be rening our product beore shipping it o. And it doesbenet Canadians.

    Daniel Stenson

  • 7/31/2019 Kitimat JRP Summary

    13/17

    I have lived here or 40 years. During that time I have oated

    down the Kitimat River. Tats not in a boat; I have oated in mydry suit with the diving club. We did it every July 1 or years. Iveshed in the river and drank the water because it was that clean.

    And I could see the salmon reds among the rocks o the river. I

    could easily understand why any amount o oil in this river wouldplug up the gravel and seep around the rocks, eectively killing allthe salmon hatch and make cleanup impossible . o cleanup peoplewould have to pick up every rock and wipe it with a towel to be called

    a cleanup? Because its just -- the Kitimat River is just rocks; bigrocks, little rocks. And now the Kitimat River is rated as the thirdmost endangered river in B.C. Any other straw would push it over

    the edge . Now, Enbridge say they will do things -- certain thingsso that there will be no spills or such, but they know and I know andanyone who has not closed their eyes and mind to reality know thatthere will be a disaster. It may be a broken pipeline in an accessible

    area, or a tanker colliding with a rock or another tanker or any othernumber o happenings. And when this happens no one will be able toeven call any kind o a cleanup successul. Te land is too hostile and inaccessible and in the winter it is even worse.

    Glenn Stenson

    We did a science project at school where we added oil to water, thentried to clean it up. Tis was done in a small drinking glass and it

    was impossible to clean. Te majority o the oil was let in the water.I we tried to get all the oil out, we would have taken all the waterout. Now imagine that happening in our waters in B.C. A spill in

    one location such as our channel will eventually reach other shoresworldwide. What a mess. Tey say itll make money; I say it will createdestruction. Victoria Stenson (10)

    Last week, another Enbridge pipeline had a problem and this time

    230,000 litres o oil was spilled. It was hard or me to visualize thatamount, so I started to think about it in terms o a one-litre containero milk. Te average amily -- Canadian amily o our -- would drinkapproximately three litres o milk a day. In one year, that would equal

    1,095 litres. Enbridges latest spill would be like an average Canadianamily spilling 210 years worth o milk. It shocked me. It was 210years.

    Chery Willis

  • 7/31/2019 Kitimat JRP Summary

    14/17

    Tis pipeline will be like a rotten onion hiding in the back o the pantry. When theres one rottenonion in the pantry, everything that comes out o the pantry has a strange sickening stench to it but

    nobody can tell what it is. So I conclude with a plea to you, the JRP, say no to this onion beore it startsto stink.

    Bill Vollrath

    I worry about our country and the people that will live years romnow. Natural resources are a good thing to have but they should notbe plundered. And we must be careul to remember that once this

    destructive project comes in, we will never get it out -- we will neverget rid o it, no matter how many times it leaks. When they have aleak, the most important thing or them is to get the dilbit running

    again. We are certainly doing our best to take away the inheritance o

    resources on the earth or uture generations. We arent thinking osustainability. Were thinking o me, me, me.

    Margaret Stenson

    My statements are more concerns, I guess, or unanswered questions. Te pipeline, the loading

    acility, and the tankers will be carrying very toxic and volatile substances, and I am wondering whatequipment is currently available to eectively collect any spills or unintentional releases dependingon what the terminology is being used? Because I know through Burrard Clean Spill Response Course,under ideal conditions, slack tide, no wind and a containment boom around the vessel being loaded,

    youre lucky i you get 15 percent back.

    And Ive asked several people in dierent industries how much, what percent would be recovered o thebitumen. I havent received an answer yet.

    Christopher Walter Wilson

    We relied -- we relied on our -- in our channel -- our rivers and ourchannel or our ood. Tats why I say this is our dinner plate outhere, and weve been threatened. Weve been threatened by this oil

    industry. I have our children, I have ve grandchildren, and I havegreat-grandchildren also, too. I just attended a graduation o my

    -- one o my great-grandchildrens graduation in Kildala School.I ear or them because they wont understand what is happening

    here. Teyre not going to understand now, but later on in lie, andtheyre going to question. Teyre going to question, Where were you,Baba, when -- when they were threatening our community? I hopethey come and visit my grave and say, Tank you or saying no to

    Enbridge. Ray Green

  • 7/31/2019 Kitimat JRP Summary

    15/17

    I am concerned that the Northern Gateway project is being

    promoted as a way to more rapidly and completely exploit as mucho the tar sands as possible in the short term, 30 to 50 years. In

    the hope o accessing the currently high and lucrative demand orraw bitumen, particularly in China, in this extreme rush to get tarsands production exported, this proposal is predicated on doing noupgrading and no rening within Alberta, British Columbia or, or

    that matter, Kitimat. By all accounts I have read coming rom Albertaor rom the United States, 12 to 20,000 potential Canadian jobs arebeing exported along with the raw bitumen in this proposal. In myconsidered opinion, this is wrong.

    Rob Gofnet

    First and oremost, theres a complete lack o trust in theenvironmental review in the public comments made by the Prime

    Minister and certain Cabinet Ministers have done nothing to createaith in our current governance model. In act, those elected ofcialshave ettered your discretion as statutory decision makers. Tat is thereason why it is tough or me to trust that the Crown will act in the

    best interest o the people. Te Crown permitting has enabled ve oour eulachon-bearing watersheds to be decimated and our eulachonendangered. Crown permitting has allowed Rio into to greatlypollute the sh habitat in the Ksgaxl area across the bay, and thats

    been known or a long time, but nobodys done anything about it. Steve Wilson

    In my health care work, I see many challenges people ace. It is aact that our physical health is not dened only by our body, but by

    our mind and our spirit also. Health o all o our people, includingthe original First Nations population, has been incredibly challengedin our short history o development in this northwest region o B.C.

    and the rest o Canada. Changes to the way o lie that have alreadyoccurred have been recognized to cause signicant chronic health andsocial problems. Te changes that will happen ater an oil spill will

    exponentially increase these issues, urther chronic mental healthissues, depression, addiction, losses to the community and amilygroups.

    Ruth Mueller

  • 7/31/2019 Kitimat JRP Summary

    16/17

    I am now here in ront o you beore the act to let you know that Ido not want Enbridge to bring their tankers in our Haisla territory.For me, my children, my entire amily, or the Haisla people, bringingthe pipeline and tankers here is wrong. Te oods that I preserve

    every year is my parents legacy; it is part o our culture that theytook great pride in teaching. It is a part o my culture that I gainstrength rom. When there is an oil spill, and Im not saying i there isan oil spill, but when there is an oil spill, should this project go ahead,

    the last bit o my culture, the last bit o my pride will be wiped outwith Enbridge oil.

    Joyce Amos

    I have two concerns about the increases in the chance or shipaccidents and oil spills. One is that once the project is built, it mayopen the door to large increases in the volume o product being

    transported on these waters via Enbridge or other company acilities.Te other is about cuts to marine saety measures down the roadwhen some o these prove to be too costly. In regards to spills, weknow that a big release o toxic bitumen into the sea will be next

    to impossible to clean up completely. A small part will be recoveredsymbolically and at a great cost, but the bulk will be let to all andpoison the sea. And I dont give much credence to tanker vetting,

    either. Changing circumstances could bring double-hulled tankershere that are in poor condition, especially as they get older, orpoorly trained crews. In my view, these issues dont make the projectattractive.

    Per-Henrik Norman

    Te Enbridge Company has an abysmal history o environmental accidents. Between 99 and 2008,Enbridge recorded 610 spills that released 132,000 barrels o hydrocarbons into arms, wetlands,and waterways on the continent. Enbridge made headlines in July 2010 as one o its pipelines caused

    the largest oil spill in the history o the U.S. Midwest. In our pristine Northern B.C., what could be

    more devastating? For each spill in the bush, an ecosystem dies, a river or stream is polluted never torecover, and all lie it supports leaves or dies with it. Tis is not justiable. Te uture here would bedenied.

    Martha Murray

  • 7/31/2019 Kitimat JRP Summary

    17/17

    Te third and last thing that happened on my canoe journey waswhat we saw as we paddled along Grenville Channel. First we pulled

    into a place called Lowe Inlet and we saw this slab; it was a thick slabo clear, translucent water and it was about a metre thick and aboutve metres across, coming down rom a lake and pouring directly intothe ocean. Along both sides o that rocky embankment we saw black

    bears alternately swiping their paws to catch salmon and grabbingthem while the salmon were trying to ght their way up this big slabo water. Tere were so many salmon around us at that moment, itwas hard to distinguish the giant raindrops rom the sh swirling

    and jumping around our boat. I had to put my camera down to trulysoak in the magnicence o that moment. Ten when we let the inlet,the sun came out or a ew moments which allowed us to witness ve

    humpback whales suracing and blowing spray beside us. Tis is amagical place. I was deeply touched by seeing them and those bears intheir natural habitat. I am now horried that the whales, just starting

    to live on our ocean, in our waters again, ater years o whaling mightleave the area because o the hundreds o oil supertankers that arepredicted to travel through local waters because they make so muchpropeller noise .

    Patricia Lange

    I huge oil sands -- or oil projects like the tar sands and Enbridge goahead then the whole green energy movement is rozen or the next40 years, until they run out o their supplies. And thats a bad thing.

    Well never get o the dirty energy merry-go-round i we keep givingin to huge corporations and their puppet politicians who swing their

    money around like sledgehammers. We need to start somewhere andit might as well be here because then theyre going to move up to the

    Arctic and we ll go through this whole thing again in 40 years time,and Ill be sitting there in my wheelchair saying, I told you so. So itsup to us, the people, to make the decision, right or wrong, not thecompanies and not their puppet politicians either because theyre not

    listening to their voters. We need to start somewhere and we need tostart here.

    Elizabeth Thorne

    Produced by Northwest Institute


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