According to a report released today, the risks associated with Enbridge Inc.’s (TSX:ENB) proposed Northern Gateway pipeline to B.C. far outweigh the benefits.
The report by the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Pembina Institute and Living Oceans Society highlighted the dangers of transporting oilsands oil along the pipeline pathway and on B.C.’s sensitive coast, which massive oil tankers would be navigating for the first time.
Pipeline and tanker trouble documents the risks that transporting tarsands oil poses to communities along the pipeline and tanker paths to salmon-bearing rivers and coastal ecosystems.
The proposed pipeline would carry highly acidic and corrosive diluted bitumen from Alberta’s oilsands through nearly 1,200 kilometres of rugged and unstable terrain to Kitimat.
The pipeline would be serviced by more than 220 supertankers each year sailing through B.C.’s north coast waterways.
Nathan Lemphers, a senior Pembina policy analyst, said, “While the considerable environmental impacts of bitumen production are well documented, the increased risk and potential harm from transporting bitumen is less known.”
The report recommends rejecting of the proposed pipeline and banning large oil tanker traffic in B.C.’s coastal waters.
Jennifer Harrison
@JHarrisonBIV