VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – An environmental group is accusing Enbridge of glossing over the hazards of sending tankers in and out of Kitimat.    

The Living Oceans Society has released its own video, countering information on an Enbridge video they say is misleading.

The society’s Karen Wristen says they used a model tanker and put it in a simulated channel, and were surprised by how narrow the passage was.

“The tanker route is a great deal more tortuous than has been alluded to by Enbridge and its proposal. What they’ve done is basically airbrush out all of the navigational obstacles in that channel,” she insists.

She says at its narrowest point, the channel is only a kilometre and a half wide.

“The company video makes it look like it’s a walk in the park, and it’s anything but. The Douglas Channel is no small feat for navigation for many vessels but most particularly for very large crude carriers they’re talking about putting up that route.”

On its website, though, Enbridge says that particular one-minute flyover video is only meant to be “broadly representational,” not to scale. It insists the video was never meant to depict marine operations.

The company says its seven-minute video is far more detailed and is to scale.