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    Why Anglers Olust Oppose The Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline

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    Northwest Institute
    The proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline poses serious threats to world-class salmon fisheries in British Columbia rivers like the Fraser and Skeena due to the inevitability of bitumen spills during transport. Bitumen sinks and cannot be cleaned up easily, particularly in icy conditions, coating and contaminating salmon spawning habitats. Additionally, the 200 oil tankers per year proposed to transport bitumen from Kitimat through hazardous coastal waters risk catastrophic oil spills that would devastate bottom fisheries and marine life. For these reasons, the pipeline faces strong opposition from First Nations, environmentalists, and anglers who want to protect BC's fisheries for future generations.

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    Why Anglers Olust Oppose The Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline

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    Northwest Institute
    92 views3 pages
    The proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline poses serious threats to world-class salmon fisheries in British Columbia rivers like the Fraser and Skeena due to the inevitability of bitumen spills during transport. Bitumen sinks and cannot be cleaned up easily, particularly in icy conditions, coating and contaminating salmon spawning habitats. Additionally, the 200 oil tankers per year proposed to transport bitumen from Kitimat through hazardous coastal waters risk catastrophic oil spills that would devastate bottom fisheries and marine life. For these reasons, the pipeline faces strong opposition from First Nations, environmentalists, and anglers who want to protect BC's fisheries for future generations.

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    2014JanEnbridgeAngler

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    2014JanEnbridgeAngler

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    The proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline poses serious threats to world-class salmon fisheries in British Columbia rivers like the Fraser and Skeena due to the inevitability of bitumen spills during transport. Bitumen sinks and cannot be cleaned up easily, particularly in icy conditions, coating and contaminating salmon spawning habitats. Additionally, the 200 oil tankers per year proposed to transport bitumen from Kitimat through hazardous coastal waters risk catastrophic oil spills that would devastate bottom fisheries and marine life. For these reasons, the pipeline faces strong opposition from First Nations, environmentalists, and anglers who want to protect BC's fisheries for future generations.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    92 views3 pages

    Why Anglers Olust Oppose The Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline

    Uploaded by

    Northwest Institute
    The proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline poses serious threats to world-class salmon fisheries in British Columbia rivers like the Fraser and Skeena due to the inevitability of bitumen spills during transport. Bitumen sinks and cannot be cleaned up easily, particularly in icy conditions, coating and contaminating salmon spawning habitats. Additionally, the 200 oil tankers per year proposed to transport bitumen from Kitimat through hazardous coastal waters risk catastrophic oil spills that would devastate bottom fisheries and marine life. For these reasons, the pipeline faces strong opposition from First Nations, environmentalists, and anglers who want to protect BC's fisheries for future generations.

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    Why anglers OlUSt oppose the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline

    - Mark Boyee photo

    Dr. Mark S. Boyee


    he Fraser and Skeena riverS"d[~irr ~~~ major portions ofBriti.sh-eolu~: ~ .

    - -~~--

    that host the world's finesr~~-~-it!I-e~ for five species of Pacific tallJff)g..,.~-:: In addition, during mosWn~-=- .-=-- __ the year we can find ste~ in the Skeena and tributaries;~-,F;~~_ that many devoted anglers consider the finest sportfish on the planet. All of these salmoHI~i are anadromous, spending varying periods lives in the Pacific and migrating upstream to spawn in gravel redds on stream bottoms. These and other spectacular fish and world. fishing opportunities are under serious threa -~ the Enbridge orthern Gateway Pipeline tha proposed to carry diluted bitumen (dilbit) from Alberta's oil sands to a seaport at Kitimat on the eastern terminus of Douglas Channel. To get;-r:.r~o~m'-'" Alberta to Kitimat, the pipeline must cross 780 streams that flow into the Fraser, the Skeena, or other important fish-bearing rivers. The landscape to be traversed is among the most rugged in North America, along mountain ranges fraught with avalanche chutes and seasonal flooding. In BC, seismic activity is the highest in Canada. As evidence, traffic on highways that travel this landscape is disrupted nearly every year due to landslides and washouts. Any pipeline across this geologically active terrain is certain to be ruptured periodically with bitumen spilling into tributaries of the Fraser, the Skeena, or the Mackenzie River system.

    ~~Iii

    16

    Alberta Outdoorsmen

    Tar Sand Deposits

    Bitumen spills on the proposed Northgate Pipeline are inevitable. In Alberta, we have become oblivious to oil spills and related incidents that happen on average twice each day in the lower Athabasca region. But bitumen spills are much worse than oil spills because bitumen sinks, coating and permeating the very sands and gravels that the salmon and steel head use for spawning. Oil spills are contained with booms and sometimes burned off. But because bitumen sinks, the only possible reclamation is to dredge the stream channel downstream from the spill. The pipeline carrying dilbit would be paralleled by a second one, carrying condensate from the coast to the oil sands, to dilute bitumen so that it can be piped Enbridge has a horrific track record with bitumen pipelines. In July 20 10, an Enbridge bitumen pipeline burst, dumping 3 million litres of dilbit into Talmadge Creek that flows into the Kalamazoo River in Michigan, creating the most costly (>$1 billion) onshore oil spill in history. The US

    Yinka Dene Alliance


    Takla

    K~imat

    Nadleh Whut'en

    Fort St James

    Edmonton

    Wet'suwet'en

    Saik'uz

    Alberta

    British Columbia

    Calgary

    "Proposed route for the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline transporting bitumen from the oil sands to Kitimat, BC for shipping to Asia." damage must await the spring thaw, in April of2014. In another case, a release of 50 tonnes of contaminants to the frozen Athabasca River in January 1982 was washed downstream 250 kilometres to Lake Athabasca as officials watched helplessly, causing the closure of the lake's fishery for two years. Many of the streams and rivers to be crossed by orthern Gateway are covered by ice for 4-5 months each year. As scientists, we view issues such as getting the bitumen across Alberta and BC without spills in context of probabilities. The probability of an

    diluted

    YES
    TO JOBS
    "An Industry-sponsored Highway 16." . Mark Boyce road sign on
    photo

    eventual serious bitumen spill on the Northern Gateway Pipeline is very close to I, meaning nearly a certainty. But when it gets to Kitimat, the bitumen will be loaded into massive tankers to be shipped to Asia for upgrading. Approximately 200 tankers per year are expected. Again, tankers do not traverse the Pacific without incident. We have yet to recover from the massive oil spill caused by the grounding of the Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound almost 25 years ago on March 24, 1989. A recent report estimates that toxic effects will linger for several more decades.

    Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) required Enbridge to dredge the Kalamazoo River for cleanup, and 35 miles of the river were closed in June 2012 during the cleanup. But despite the Herculean effort, in March 2013, EPA ruled that the cleanup was insufficient requiring that Enbridge return to remove submerged oil and to dredge contaminated sediment. Because the Kalamazoo River is in a gentle landscape, the attempted cleanup there is a cakewalk compared to what it might be in the mountainous terrain planned for the Northern Gateway Pipeline. The frigid climates of interior BC and Alberta pose another hazard. There are no known methods of recovering spilled oil or bitumen when rivers and streams are ice-covered. An example is the recent release of670 million litres of tailings from the abed Coal Mine in Alberta into the Athabasca River. The river froze up within days after the spill, and officials have announced that a full assessment of

    Alberta Outdoorsmen

    I7

    "Mark Boyce caught this 26-lb lingcod in October 2013 in Hecate Strait where bitumen from the Northern Gateway Pipeline would be shipped en route to Asia."

    Again, bitumen sinks, thereby a tanker mishap on the shores of BC threaten world-famous bottom fisheries for halibut, lingcod and rockfish, as well as salmon stocks in the ocean, sea otters, and a host of seabirds. And cleanup of the deep ocean bottom is infeasible. The Hecate Strait, part of the proposed shipping channel, is considered one of the world's most dangerous waters, due to narrow passages, large waves, and frequent fog. Indeed, a ferry, the Queen of the North, crashed into a rocky island during a midnight squall in March of 2006, causing loss of the ship and two lives. The cause of the accident was ruled human error, and the ship's navigator was jailed for criminal negligence causing death. The death toll would have been higher, except for the rapid response of indigenous fishermen from Hartley Bay, who were at the accident site within minutes. The ship is reportedly still leaking diesel fuel into the ocean. The Canadian government has taken a wrong turn guided by big oil. With

    the Omnibus Budget Bill, Bill C-38, the Harper government deliberately weakened habitat protections afforded by the Fisheries Act, which until recently was Canada's strongest environmental legislation. Changes to the Fisheries Act were in part to pave way for the Northern Gateway Pipeline. The ultimate motivation was to stimulate Canada's economy by making development of the oil sands more profitable. Sadly, the economics mostly will benefit large international corporations, not Canada or Canadians. If Canadian economics were the driver, we would upgrade the bitumen in Canada and transport synthetic crude that would be much less of a threat to our fisheries, or use it within Canada to manufacture goods to market. When confronted with this argument, Andrew Leach, an economist, explained that Alberta does not have the trained workforce to staff the upgrading facilities. We submit that education and training of staff for infrastructure built

    in Canada are much cheaper than the longterm consequences of losing our worldclass fisheries. First Nations resistance to the pipeline might slow or even prevent construction of the pipeline. Bands are said to be divided in their response to the proposed pipeline. At least 61 bands have voiced their opposition, but 26 are reported by Enbridge to have approved the pipeline. Some First Nations see opportunities for jobs for their people associated with pipeline construction, whereas most consider the pipeline to be a threat to the environment and their way of life. BC First Nations are not governed by large treaties like most of Alberta's First Nations. They view it as their right to make decisions that affect the land and its resources. Two coalitions of First Nations, the Coastal First Nations and the Yinka Dene Alliance, believe that the risks are too high and staunchly oppose construction of the pipeline. Even in Alberta, most First Nations believe that oil sands development has violated the terms of Treaty 8. The matter is before the courts.

    ....

    "Dave and Sam Fairless with a yelloweye rockfish near the mouth of the Skeena River." . Mark Boyce photo Outdoors men and women are a powerful voice, and largely a conservative voice that has the ear of government, as evidenced by the Hunting and Angling Advisory Panel formed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper in May 2012. We can make a difference if we exercise our voice and let our priorities be known. The North American Model for Wildlife Conservation has been remarkably successful at protecting and restoring vast populations offish and wildlife in both Canada and the United States, all because of the conservation values articulated by conservation leaders over 100 yrs ago. And we all enjoy the fruits of this vision. Now is the time for Canadian anglers to show our colours. We need a united voice of opposition to the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline .

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