Coast oil spill will be ‘catastrophic’

Oceanside Star

Pamela Suzanne Smyth, Special To The Star

Published: Thursday, May 24, 2012

It’s not if but when a spill will happen as a result of the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline from the Alberta oil sands to BC’s west coast, Marine Operations and Guide Outfitter Coordinator Brian Falconer, from the Raincoast Conservation Foundation, told a crowd at the Qualicum Beach Civic Centre Saturday.

“By playing fast and loose, Enbridge has vastly underrepresented the risks,” he said.

“The Enbridge statistical scenario insinuates that the probability of a major spillage from a tanker is once in every 15,000 years and presents flawed assumptions,” he said. “Many experts believe that this type of risk model is inappropriate for these kinds of events. The past does not predict the future and a spill could occur on any given day.”

 To read the full article please visit the Oceanside Star website.

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Coastal wolf with a salmon in its month.
Photo by Dene Rossouw.