BELLA BELLA (NEWS1130) - Students living in a small community on the Central Coast will be protesting the proposed
Enbridge oil pipeline during an upcoming 48-hour hunger strike.
The Calgary-based company wants to build the Northern Gateway pipeline, which would carry oil from Alberta to Kitimat.
Students at
Bella Bella Community School say there are too many safety concerns surrounding the project. The students believe the supertankers filled with oil will jeopardize the environment along the coast of the
Great Bear Rainforest.
The hunger strike will be between April 1st and 3rd, which coincides with the Enbridge hearings in that community. The students are hoping this protest will open a dialogue with other concerned students from around the province.
On February 23rd, Transport Canada filed a report to the regulatory panel weighing Enbridge Inc.'s $5.5-billion proposal to ship Alberta crude to the West Coast by pipeline and export the oil to Asian markets via supertankers loaded in Kitimat. The report does not identify any regulatory concerns and says residual risks are present in any project.
First Nations along British Columbia's north and central coast say it's
unfathomable that Transport Canada approves the use of oil supertankers. Coastal
First Nations executive director Art Sterritt has stated that the
department ruling ignores safety issues such as poor weather, human
error, and the narrow, unforgiving waterways.
Coastal First Nations suggested a tanker spill could cost $23-billion, creating catastrophic economic, environmental and cultural damage.
Enbridge (TSX:ENB) maintains the pipeline will bring jobs and economic development to northern B.C., but opponents insist the risks are too high.
They have packed Joint Review Panel hearings underway across B.C. and Alberta through 2013.