For the December issue of Link magazine, contributor Rodney Dickinson wrote about his experience at a Northern Gateway Pipeline protest in Vancouver. A controversial subject indeed, we thought we’d offer you a few more fast facts so you at least know what you’re talking about when you inevitably find yourself in the middle of a difficult argument.
THE GOOD (From GatewayFacts.ca)
- The pipeline will create over 3,000 construction jobs and 560 long-term jobs in British Columbia
- $3 million in core funding for a Gateway Education and Training Fund to support construction skills training.
- 70% of the route will use previously disturbed lands
- First Nations and Métis communities were offered to become equity partners providing them a 10% stake in the project.
THE BAD (From Forest Ethics.org)
- The pipeline would bring crude oil tankers to BC’s north coast (where the Great Bear Rainforest is located) for the first time ever
- Over 130 First Nations have signed on to the Fraser Declaration banning tar sands from being transported through their territories
- According to a 2010 poll, 80 per cent of British Columbians support a ban on oil tanker traffic on BC’s North Coast.
- Between 1999 and 2008, Enbridge has had over 610 spills that released approximately 21 million litres (132,000 barrels) of hydrocarbon, the organic compound in oil, gas or bitumen
THE UGLY (From Forest Ethics.org)
- Between 1999 and 2008, Enbridge has had over 610 spills that released approximately 21 million litres (132,000 barrels) of hydrocarbon, the organic compound in oil, gas or bitumn
- In July 2010 they spilled nearly 4 million litres of tar sands into the Kalamazoo River that has yet to be re-opened.
- In 2009, Enbridge had 103 reportable spills, leaks and releases, and 91 spills in 2010.
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