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Natives angry as Northern Gateway pipeline proceeds

The Canadian Press Published Friday, February 24, 2012 2:55PM EST

Charles Heit, a Gitxsan First Nation member opposed to the $5.5-billion Enbridge oil pipeline from Alberta to the British Columbia port of Kitimat warms himself beside a fire at a camp outside the Gitxsan Treaty Office in Hazelton, B.C., on Thursday January 12, 2012.

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VANCOUVER - First Nations along British Columbia's north and central coast say it's unfathomable that Transport Canada approves the use of oil supertankers in the province's treacherous inlets and marine passages.

Coastal First Nations executive director Art Sterritt says the department ruling ignores safety issues such as poor weather, human error, and the narrow, unforgiving waterways.

Transport Canada filed its report on Thursday to the regulatory panel weighing Enbridge Inc.'s $5.5-billion proposal to ship Alberta crude to the West Coast by pipeline and export the oil to Asian markets via supertankers loaded in Kitimat.

The report does not identify any regulatory concerns and says residual risks are present in any project.

Sterritt says that's nonsensical and shocking because a recent study by Coastal First Nations suggested a tanker spill could cost $23 billion, creating catastrophic economic, environmental and cultural damage.

Enbridge (TSX:ENB) says the pipeline will bring jobs and economic development to northern B.C., but opponents insist the risks are too high, and they have packed Joint Review Panel hearings underway across B.C. and Alberta through 2013.