NORTH Vancouver's Tsleil-Waututh Nation is applauding an announcement by the province that it cannot support Enbridge's Northern Gateway oil pipeline project.
On Friday, the province told the federal government it couldn't support the northern pipeline as currently presented because the company hasn't shown it would be able to address environmental concerns.
In a press statement, Tsleil-Waututh Chief Maureen Thomas commended B.C. Premier Christy Clark for "making the right decision."
"It reflects to us the government is hearing the . . . people's voice in B.C. and their concerns over the health and safety of the environment," said Gabriel George, Tsleil-Waututh spokesman on pipeline issues.
Thomas added, "We feel certain that when the province applies their five criteria to Kinder Morgan's proposal, that they will find that it also fails to meet those basic standards."
George said the band doesn't think that saying no to the northern pipeline necessarily means the province will be more likely to say yes to the southern Kinder Morgan route.
The Enbridge announcement "shows there's a process," said George. "I feel Kinder Morgan won't meet those criteria."
British Columbia does not have final say on the pipeline projects. That rests with the federal government.
The Tsleil-Waututh are adamantly opposed to a plan that would see Kinder Morgan triple the transport of crude oil for export through its Westridge terminal - directly opposite Tsleil-Waututh land on Burrard Inlet.
The province has not indicated its stance on the Kinder Morgan plan. During the recent election, the Liberals said it would be premature to judge the project before seeing a detailed proposal. NDP leader Adrian Dix was widely considered to have lost votes in some parts of the province when he came out against the Kinder Morgan plan.
Last week, the Tsleil-Waututh indicated band leaders were disturbed by details in the company's project description recently filed with the National Energy Board that described a tripling of oil storage tank capacity in Burnaby and a doubling of the actual number of oil tanks.
"The Nation has grave concerns about such a significant amount of oil being stored in close proximity to Burrard Inlet," said George.
George said the band isn't just concerned about the prospect of a catastrophic spill, but also about the slow leak of oil from the tanks into the environment. The band pointed to an incident in 2012 in Abbotsford when Kinder Morgan spilled 90,000 litres of oil from its Sumas tank farm into a containment area there.
A later report revealed company operators ignored warning alarms for three and a half hours. According to news reports, the spill was only confirmed after Abbotsford police started getting reports of strong "gas" odours from neighbouring residents.
George said the Tsleil-Waututh will be hosting a multi-faith "sacred fire" event in Cates Park on June 21, to celebrate their connection to the land.
