Marking the end of a consultation phase with the federal government, Tsleil-Waututh Nation Chief Maureen Thomas is on Parliament Hill in Ottawa today to release four new reports that outline “unresolved” issues on the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline Project, reads a blog statement from the chief.
The reports outline Tsleil-Waututh’s rejection of the project.
She will be asking the Federal Cabinet to not rely on the National Energy Board’s (NEB) May 2016 report and recommendations.
Thomas said the NEB submission is unfounded and unreliable because the group:
• Selectively accepted some evidence presented by Trans Mountain while discounting or ignoring other evidence.
• Failed to provide any basis for its conclusion that “significant adverse consequences of a spill are unlikely”.
• Failed to define “likely” and “unlikely,” and “acceptable” and “unacceptable” level of risk.
• Assessed the impacts of worst case spill scenarios without considering the impacts of smaller spills. Thus, the NEB has omitted consideration of a range of spills that could have significant adverse effects.
• Failed to consider evidence showing that pipeline, storage and terminal spills are likely. The probability of a large pipeline spill (rupture) estimated by Trans Mountain and intervenors over a 50 year operating life is 99.9 per cent, while the probability of a terminal spill over a 50 year operating life is estimated by Trans Mountain to be 77 per cent.
The NEB did not test the existence of markets, actual or potential, reads the blog. There is currently no need for the pipeline and no market for products proposed to be shipped.
Current pipeline and rail infrastructure is sufficient to transport oil available for export to market until at least 2025 based on current supply outlooks, Thomas writes.
“This is about our survival. We continue to see our lands and waters subject to further encroachment and pollution,” said Chief Thomas.
“If the federal government directs that the project be approved, it would reopen the many wounds we have suffered as a result of the Crown’s historic disregard for our Aboriginal title and rights,” she writes.
The reports can be found here:
• Need for, Commercial Feasibility, and Economic Impact of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, by Robyn Allan, Economist
• Evaluation of the National Energy Board’s Trans Mountain Expansion Project Report: Assessment of Oil Spill Risks, by Dr. Thomas Gunton, School of Resource and Environmental Management, Simon Fraser University
• Evaluation of the National Energy Board’s Trans Mountain Expansion Project Report in relation to Oil Spill Planning and Response, by Elise DeCola, Nuka Research and Planning Group, LLC
• Evaluation of the National Energy Board’s Trans Mountain Expansion Project Report: The Fate and Effects of Oil Spills, Prepared by, Jeffrey W. Short, Ph.D.
Letter sent from Chief Maureen Thomas to the Federal Cabinet on November 25th, 2016.
