Letters
Not so sweet: condensate and oil tankers in Kitimat
Yesterday, a friend and I found a warm spot on the Kitimat ocean-front to relax for the afternoon. While the dogs barked at a curious otter, we watched two whales, sea lions fishing, seals, and an abundance of birds; the herring must be in.
What a beautiful, special corner of wild paradise this is! Then my thoughts turned dark: how long will this last? Not long, I fear, with expansions in the works for greatly increased ‘sweet condensate’ traffic through the channel to Kitimat, and studies underway for an additional port to handle oil-sands oil traffic.
Don’t let the name fool you: ‘sweet’ condensate contains toxic and carcinogenic chemicals: naphtha, benzene, hexane, toluene, and more. A spill will result in a highly flammable slick. Its vapours can spread considerable distances along the ground or water.
I realize people need jobs, but what do we get for this? Two or three more permanent rail-yard jobs. Is this worth it?
With a second port, there will be a few more jobs than that, but consider the following:
Industry averages suggest there would be a “moderate” spill of over 1,000 barrels every two to three years, and a “major” spill of over 10,000 barrels (420,000 gallons, or 1.6 million litres) every six to seven years. In ideal conditions the oil industry considers a 15% clean-up of spills a success—a target they have never actually achieved.
Tankers travel along the labyrinthine coastline of BC, through grey whale migratory routes, humpback and orca feeding grounds, and past approximately 650 salmon spawning rivers.
An oil spill would devastate coastal communities and First Nations that rely on fishing and tourism. Cruise ships take up to 500,000 people a year through the inside passage to Prince Rupert. BC’s coastal fishery generates over $1.7 billion and more than 16,000 jobs.
Oil tankers in BC facilitate the expansion of the Alberta tar sands, the largest single contributor to the growth of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. A barrel of tar sands crude takes up to 10 times more energy to produce than a barrel of conventional oil.
For over 35 years BC’s coastal waters have been protected from oil tanker traffic, but this ban is now under threat. Plans to build pipelines and a supertanker port in Kitimat by Enbridge are moving forward with support from the BC and Canadian governments.
But there is still time to save our coast! The people of the Northwest fought for that ban. The Haisla and Haida Nations fought for that ban. Our parents fought for that ban. Now it is our turn to fight.
What can we do? We can sign the petition on-line at www.notankers.ca. Please take the minute it will take you to do this.
Your Comments on Letters
No one has commented yet on this article.