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Enbridge spill emboldens B.C. pipeline doubters
News Articles | Ottowa Citizen | Post Media News | July 30, 2010
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As workers struggle to contain a massive oil spill in Michigan caused by a pipeline leak, more questions are being asked about the safety of the pipeline owned by Canadian energy giant Enbridge Inc. and about the company’s plans to push a major new pipeline through hundreds of kilometres of western Canadian wilderness.
Early this week, a section of Enbridge’s Lakehead Pipeline system burst in Michigan. It has unleashed more than three million litres of oil into a tributary of the Kalamazoo River, with the oil making its way into the river. There are fears it could travel all the way down to Lake Michigan.
On Thursday, the Detroit Free Press reported that U.S. federal regulators conducted corrosion tests as recently as last year that found “metal loss anomalies” along the pipeline. Just two weeks ago, the paper reported, Enbridge notified the government it was considering replacing a section of pipe rather than repairing it.
Company executives said Thursday that as many as 400 people were going to be working on the cleanup, collecting oil at 17 different boom sites. “There is oil yet to be collected,” said Enbridge president and CEO Patrick Daniel, apologizing to the people of Michigan for “the mess we have made” and vowing to spend “whatever it takes” to clean it up.
“We have collected most — and I do emphasize most — of the oil on the river, (but) by no means all,” said Daniel, adding that efforts would soon be concentrated on the “fine sheen” of oil that sits atop the water’s surface.
The fallout is casting a shadow over Enbridge’s Northern Gateway Project. Aboriginal and environmental groups have been speaking out against the project for months, saying it poses an unacceptable risk to the environment and their livelihoods.
The pipeline would extend 1,172 kilometres from Bruderheim, just north of Edmonton, to Kitimat on the B.C. coast. It would carry an average of 525,000 barrels of petroleum per day. The joint review panel established to evaluate the project is holding pre-hearings beginning on Aug. 10.
“I definitely think the (Michigan) spill reinforces a lack of trust and also the incredible risk this pipeline poses to British Columbia in particular,” said Nikki Skuce, senior energy campaigner for ForestEthics. She said the pipeline is supposed to cross 1,000 streams and rivers, including the Skeena and Fraser Rivers, which are valuable wild-salmon habitats and important to cultures and economies in B.C.
The company has promised that it will have the best technology for Northern Gateway and that it would be able to tell within five minutes if there was a leak and shut it off, she said. “This latest spill just shows you: How can we trust them?”
Tagged with: enbridge, oil spill, pipeline safety, kalamazoo river
