News
Jan 27, 2012
Haisla chiefs raise concerns about possibility of oil spills from Northern Gateway
By Gordon Hoekstra, Postmedia News January 11, 2012
Haisla First Nations leaders, Ken Hall, (L) chief of the Kitlope branch of the Haisla Nation, Sam “Sammy” Robinson, whose traditional name is Chief Jassee of the Haisla First Nation and chief Rod Bolton ® , speak to supporters after testifying on the first day of Enbridge Inc’s Northern Gateway pipeline Joint Review hearing in Kitamaat Village, British Columbia, January 10, 2012. Aboriginal leaders opposed to a C$5.5 billion ($5.4 billion) oil sands pipeline backed by Canada’s government warned on Tuesday that the project could devastate fishing and traditional life on the rugged Pacific Coast and called for it to be stopped.
Photograph by: Robin Rowland, Reuters
A lengthy federal review into Enbridge’s proposed $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline began Tuesday with the Haisla warning a three-member panel that an oil spill would devastate their way of life.
The community of about 700 – with its well-kept houses and a small marina of ocean-going boats – is located on Douglas Channel, sheltered by rocky cliffs and the snowy, treed slopes of British Columbia’s Coastal Mountains.
An oil spill would devastate the wealth of food they rely on from the ocean, including salmon, halibut, cod, clams, crab and shrimp, say the Haisla.
The chiefs told the panel the community is facing a “double-barrelled” threat from an oil spill on the ocean and a spill on the Kitimat River, which empties into the Douglas Channel just north of their village.
“It just terrifies me to know we are facing more destruction,” said hereditary Chief Kenneth Hall, one of six chiefs and elders who spoke before the panel, which is slated to run until the spring of 2013.
The chiefs said the marine and river habitat have been compromised already by existing industrial development, including pollution from Rio Tinto Alcan’s aluminum smelter.
Hereditary Chief Sam Robinson, 78, said they have lived in their village for as long as 2,000 years, pointing to rocks with special meanings, rock carvings and rock paintings that demonstrated their history in the rugged coastal area. One of those rocks, which looked like a person, was used to teach young people to not run away when threatened. If you ran away, you would turn into a rock, Robinson told the panel.
He said the Haisla were taken advantage of when they were pushed onto reserves and will not run away. “We will not be walked over again,” said Robinson, speaking to the panel but also to an audience of about 300 packed into the gym of the Haisla Recreation Centre.
Before the session started, the Haisla welcomed the joint panel of the National Energy Board and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency with traditional drumming and songs.
But Robinson warned that even though the Haisla are a welcoming and peaceful people, they are willing to fight Northern Gateway – through court action, if necessary.
The panel is determining whether the 1,172-kilometre pipeline can be built and operated safely, and if the project is in the public interest. The panel’s scrutiny includes tanker traffic.
Several months of community hearings will be heard in northern B.C. and Alberta, before technical hearings begin in the fall.
A panel decision is expected at the end of 2013, after which the federal government will have a final say on the project.
“We are here to listen,” said Shelia Leggett, chairwoman of the federal panel.
Enbridge executives, including John Carruthers, president of the Northern Gateway project, attended the opening session.
An Enbridge spokesman, Paul Stanway, said they are in listening mode until they have an opportunity to explain their project during the technical hearings in the fall.
The Calgary-based company has said it believes the project can be built and operated safely, and that spill risks, which are small, can be managed.
“There’s a lot of British Columbians that have not made up their minds about the project,” said Stanway. “This is an opportunity to put information before them.”
Other First Nations representatives came to the opening session to support the Haisla.
Coastal First Nations executive director Art Sterritt said he is concerned the federal government is interfering with the Northern Gateway review.
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