Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Another Outrage for Coastal British Columbians

This is what you're up against when Ottawa, Alberta, Big Oil and Enbridge come to play.   The pipeline operator, gaming an already rigged system for clearance to build the Northern Gateway pipeline/Kitimat supertanker operation has released a video on its web site in which it shows the Douglas Channel these tankers will have to ply to make their way into the even more treacherous Hecate Strait.   This is how Enbridge wants you to see it.


For the purposes of public relations, however, Enbridge's depiction sweeps the Douglas Channel clean.   It removes Coste Island, Dorothy Island; Kitsaway, Gribbell and Gill Islands; Loretta, Maitland and Hawksbury Islands; Promise, Hinton and Farrant Islands;  Fin, Campania and Ashdown Islands;  South Moresby Island and Grenville Channel.   And, naturally, the Enbridge depiction shows nothing of the threacherous currents and tides that race through these narrow passages nor any of the innumerable rock features that lie just below the surface lying in wait for a passing tanker gone slightly astray.


To Enbridge, the route out of Kitimat is all clear sailing which, given the way Harper's environmental assessment process has been rigged, is probably a safe bet.   What's not safe, with the "Keystone Kops" of bitumen trafficking, is the British Columbia coast.

Note- if you compare the Enbridge screen shot of Douglas Channel with the actual map you'll see the tanker shown in black appears to have run aground on Gribbell Island.  Quelle surprise!

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