Tag Archives: NEB

No spill response can eliminate risk to marine life in the Strait of Juan de Fuca

By Sidney Coles, Capital Daily, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Last week, Capital Daily reported that the new 74.5-metre (244-foot) Western Marine Response Corporation (WMRC) vessel named the K.J. Gardner will be docked in Beecher Bay early in the new year. The ship is purpose-built to patrol the BC coastline and respond in the event of an oil spill.

This additional response resource is being deployed in anticipation of the 34+ tankers per month (450 per year) that will soon come out of Burnaby’s Westridge Marine Terminal laden with oil from the TMX pipeline before making their way through the San Juan Islands and the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

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Another insurer drops Trans Mountain

By John Woodside, Canada’s National Observer, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Following pressure from Indigenous and climate activists, Trans Mountain insurer Argo Group is slashing ties with the Crown corporation.

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Kinder Morgan Sold the Trans Mountain Pipeline

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claims that buying the controversial Trans Mountain pipeline is acting in the national interest. Ben Parfait put his feeling about the $4.5 billion purchase to music: “Broken hands on broken ploughs, Broken treaties, broken vows, Broken pipes, broken tools/ People bending broken rules.” Economist Robyn Allan estimates Canadian taxpayers will spend $20 billion before the controversial pipeline expansion is finished; if it is finished. Is anyone surprised to hear that Kinder Morgan sold the Trans Mountain pipeline?

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The Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc Nation Says No To Ajax Mines

By Roy L Hales

The mining sector may be struggling, but it is still big business in British Columbia. According to the Northern Miner, mining is “one of the hottest sectors of the Canadian stock market.” At the beginning of this year, there were 702 British Columbia based mineral exploration and mining companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and TSXV exchanges. Some of the A BC Liberal party’s biggest campaign contributors are mining companies. Though KGHM Ajax Mines is not one of them, having forked out a mere $55,450,[1] a new mining start would definitely bolster Premier Christy Clark’s image within the industry. Only there is more at stake than money when it comes to a proposed 2,500-hectare open-pit copper and gold mine on the outskirts of the city of Kamloops. This is an area that local first nations consider sacred and after careful deliberation, the Stk’emlúpsemc te Secwépemc Nation says no to Ajax Mines.

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BC Reacts To The NEB’s Pipeline Recommendation

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As everyone expected, the National Energy Board (NEB) has recommended that the Canadian Government approve Kinder Morgan’s proposed Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion through the most populated area of British Columbia. The NEB believes the likelihood of a major oil spill “very low,” but “the potential significance” of such a spill “very high.” Kinder Morgan would be required to post calculations of the emissions from all industrial activities and those created during construction of the 1150 km (715 miles) pipeline. If the Trudeau Government agrees and the project goes forward, the number of tankers carrying diluted bitumen out of the Greater Vancouver area could increase from 1 or 2 a week to 10. These are some of the ways BC reacts to the NEB’s pipeline recommendation.

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