- Title: Canada pipeline opponents ready to take on Kinder Morgan, Ottawa
- Date: 28th November 2016
- Summary: JASPER NATIONAL PARK, ALBERTA, CANADA (NOVEMBER 14, 2016) (REUTERS) RIVER VARIOUS OF ELK BY THE SIDE OF THE YELLOWHEAD HIGHWAY NORTH VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA (NOVEMBER 18, 2016) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) REUBEN GEORGE, THE TSLEIL-WAUTUTH FIRST NATION, SAYING: "This has been consistently voted, last 20 years, as the most livable place in the world. And it's because of places like this. It's because of the mountains. It's 'cause of the waters. It's cause people get something when they come to the water. They get something when they're up in the mountains. And I know they will want to protect it too because it doesn't service Canadians. It doesn't service jobs, or it doesn't help our economy. It's to service a greedy 1% and our plan, of what we do using our own resources is for everybody, is for everybody, even them. We're doing this to stop - help all human beings and enjoy the connection that Vancouver has and what it gives from the lands and waters." VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA (NOVEMBER 19, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PROTEST AGAINST THE KINDER MORGAN PIPELINE EXPANSION EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA (NOVEMBER 13, 2016) (REUTERS) VIEW OF STEAM RISING FROM SUNCOR REFINERY AT REAR (KINDER MORGAN PROPERTY TO THE LEFT) SIGNS WARNING OF HIGH PRESSURE OIL PIPELINE VIEW OF STEAM RISING FROM SUNCOR REFINERY KINDER MORGAN SIGN KAMLOOPS, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA (NOVEMBER 15, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF KINDER MORGAN CANADA PRESIDENT IAN ANDERSON TALKING TO PEOPLE (SOUNDBITE) (English) KINDER MORGAN CANADA PRESIDENT IAN ANDERSON SAYING: "We spent thousands of man hours and millions of dollars to go through a process, that despite what you might read in some corners was rigorous, it was thorough, it was time consuming. It listened and heard from everybody that participated in it and now we look forward to a decision by the federal government in its final form in mid-December." MORGAN CUTAWAY (SOUNDBITE) (English) KINDER MORGAN CANADA PRESIDENT IAN ANDERSON SAYING: "Our foremost interest is in protection of the environment, the people, and the assets and all of our efforts are focused around that. We'll be prepared and we'll let things unfold as they might, but protection of people and assets and environment is first and foremost." CHILLIWACK, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA (NOVEMBER 16, 2016) (REUTERS) YARROW ECO VILLAGE CO-FOUNDER MICHAEL HALE GIVING TOUR OF ECO VILLAGE (SOUNDBITE) (English) YARROW ECO VILLAGE CO-FOUNDER MICHAEL HALE SAYING: "I'm simply one of thousands of people who feel this way. We will stop this pipeline, make no mistake about it. It's not in our interest, it's not in Canada's interest. So I will come out here to the pipeline where it crosses our land and I will lay down in front of excavators. And they can arrest me. They can take me away. I'll come back and do it all over again, until it's gone." BURNABY, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA (NOVEMBER 17, 2016) (REUTERS) BURNABY MAYOR DEREK CORRIGAN AT DESK (SOUNDBITE) (English) BURNABY MAYOR DEREK CORRIGAN SAYING: "We think eventually there will be an accident. You can't go through two sets of narrows to the inside of the inlet and not eventually have some problem created whether it's a collision with the boat or collision with one of the bridges. Is that we think will eventually happen. And if it does, an oil spill in the harbor will cause damage that will last for hundreds of years. We don't think they will be able to clean it up, and we think the likelihood that it's going to affect our economy for a very very long time is real." WEST VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA (NOVEMBER 18, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS VIEWS FROM CYPRESS MOUNTAIN OF THE PORT OF VANCOUVER
- Embargoed: 13th December 2016 20:32
- Keywords: pipeline Canada trans mountain
- Location: BURNABY, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
- City: BURNABY, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA
- Country: USA
- Topics: Environment
- Reuters ID: LVA0015AE2Z47
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:If Canada approves Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, the company's four year campaign for the project will be far from over. Next up is a battle against increasingly radical resistance amongst communities along its planned route.
The $5.04 billion project, proposed by Kinder Morgan Inc., of Houston, Texas, the biggest energy infrastructure company in the U.S., would nearly triple the amount of Alberta oil transported to the Vancouver-area port just across the water to the First Nation reserve, where the Tsleil-Waututh are protesting the expansion.
"This has been consistently voted, last 20 years, as the most livable place in the world. And it's because of places like this. It's because of the mountains. It's 'cause of the waters. It's cause people get something when they come to the water. They get something when they're up in the mountains. And I know they will want to protect it too because it doesn't service Canadians. It doesn't service jobs, or it doesn't help our economy. It's to service a greedy one percent," said Reuben George, of the Tsleil-Waututh nation.
Pipeline opponents - British Columbian municipalities, Aboriginal tribes and environmentalists - are fighting the expansion for reasons ranging from climate change concerns to fears of tanker spills, pipeline leaks or tank farm fires.
"We think eventually there will be an accident," said Burnaby mayor, Derek Corrigan, who also told Reuters he was prepared to join the protests even if it meant ending his political career and breaking the law. "An oil spill in the harbor will cause damage that will last for hundreds of years. We don't think they will be able to clean it up, and we think the likelihood that it's going to affect our economy for a very very long time is real."
The pipeline starts from an expansive 8-million barrel capacity tank farm on the outskirts of Edmonton where, like elsewhere in Alberta, new export pipelines enjoy public support as a way of reviving the oil province's battered economy.
In Kamloops, an interior British Columbia city 800 kilometers (497 miles) west of Edmonton, which unlike most of the province voted Conservative in the 2015 federal election, the pipeline is also seen as an economic asset.
"We spent thousands of man hours and millions of dollars to go through a process, that despite what you might read in some corners was rigorous, it was thorough, it was time consuming. It listened and heard from everybody that participated in it and now we look forward to a decision by the federal government in its final form in mid December."
Kinder Morgan has said little about its strategy for dealing with public opposition. Anderson told reporters in Kamloops the company was committed to protecting the environment, people and assets on the pipeline's route.
"Our foremost interest is in protection of the environment, the people, and the assets and all of our efforts are focused around that. We'll be prepared and we'll let things unfold as they might, but protection of people and assets and environment is first and foremost," Anderson said.
Opponents draw inspiration from the fate of Enbridge's stalled Northern Gateway pipeline, TransCanada's rejected Keystone XL and protests against the Dakota Access pipeline built by Energy Transfer Partners in the United States.
"I'm simply one of thousands of people who feel this way. We will stop this pipeline, make no mistake about it. It's not in our interest, it's not in Canada's interest," said Michael Hale, 72, a co-founder of Yarrow Eco Village near Chilliwack, a 20-acre farm, where the proposed pipeline would pass through.
"I will come out here to the pipeline where it crosses our land and I will lay down in front of excavators. And they can arrest me. They can take me away. I'll come back and do it all over again, until it's gone," said Hale. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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