[All] Fwd: Grand River watershed threatened.

[Norah & Richard]

* Please consider sending this to your local newspapers or media or 
friends and neighbours.     Norah
*


www.huffingtonpost.ca/maryam-adrangi/enbridge_b_1699718.html 
<http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/maryam-adrangi/enbridge_b_1699718.html>

*What Enbridge Doesn't Want Ontarians to Know*

Tar sands oil may soon be pumping through an Ontario pipeline near you. 
If you didn't know, it is likely because Enbridge doesn't want you to 
know that they are bringing the Kalamazoo disaster to your home 
province. It is called Line 9, and is part of the same Enbridge pipeline 
network as the pipe that spilled well over a million barrels of oil in 
2010 into the Kalamazoo River. The U.S. National Transportation and 
Safety Board investigated 
<http://mobile.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSBRE8691AC20120710?irpc=932> 
Enbridge's handling of the spill, citing two dozen safety violations.

The investigation showed that Enbridge knew that the 40 year old 
pipeline could use some work on numerous cracks and corroded areas to 
make it safer and less likely to fracture, yet there were no attempts to 
fix the pipeline. They also underestimated their "worst case scenario" 
by claiming that a spill would be noticed and shut down after eight 
minutes. When a spill actually happened, we saw that it took the large, 
wealthy pipeline company over 15 hours to react.

The pipeline that fractured in Kalamazoo connects to Line 9 when it 
passes through the Windsor-Quebec City corridor, the most densely 
populated area in Canada. But communities along this pipeline are not 
being informed or asked if they are okay with it. In fact, the National 
Energy Board will be making a decision on phase one of the project, 
which is to bring <http://hamiltoncatch.org/view_article.php?id=1079> a 
corrosive tar sands-chemical mixture known as dilbit from Sarnia to a 
refinery outside of Hamilton, no later than August 20th.

Dilbit is more corrosive than conventional crude given the temperatures 
needed for transport and its acidic nature, and a joint fact sheet put 
out by several environmental groups describes 
<http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/ddroitsch/a_decision_being_made_by.html> 
the flow through a pipeline as "fast, hot, and toxic liquid sandpaper." 
But again, most people do not know about it, and grassroots and 
environmental groups have taken on the responsibility of informing 
neighbours and those at risk.

And whether or not you are directly on the route of the pipeline, a 
fracture could still impact you since it crosses major rivers and water 
systems. A spill could devastate the Grand River Basin, Lake Ontario, 
and the St. Lawrence River -- just to name a few. If you are served by 
one of these large water sources, you may expect cancer-causing toxins 
to enter with a spill, potentially evacuation of your home, and several 
years of cleanup without full restoration to pre-spill conditions.

It is going largely unnoticed that Enbridge's failure in Kalamazoo may 
very well be repeated just across the border. Water, land, air, and 
ecosystems know no borders. Unfortunately, neither do human error, 
corporate irresponsibility, lack of government environmental regulation 
and proper consultation with communities opposing these projects. People 
are piping up and opposition is growing in many communities near Line 
9's right-of-way including Six Nations, Aamjiwnaang, Sarnia, Hamilton, 
London, Guelph, Kitchener-Waterloo, Toronto, Montreal, Dunham, and others.

And why wouldn't these communities be piping up? They will be facing all 
the risks, with little (if any) consultation, while Enbridge profits. 
When there is a spill, these communities will have to face the 
consequences and Enbridge may (or may not) get a slap on the wrist. For 
the Kalamazoo spill, the company was fined 
<http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2012/07/enbridge_oil_spill_links_1.html> 
a measly $3.22 per gallon of oil spilled. We pay the true costs to our 
health and our communities.

We may even be forced to pay for it out of our wallets. Enbridge carries 
only enough insurance to cover 
<http://thetyee.ca/News/2012/06/05/Gateway-Oil-Spill-Insurance/> $575 
million in damages, well below the costs of clean-up for the Kalamazoo 
spill. Who pays for the rest? In the age of austerity when there are 
rallies across the country against rising tuition fees and Harper's cuts 
to health care, we are similarly seeing $1.4 billion dollars in 
subsidies going 
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/09/canada-cuts-environment-spending> 
to the oil and gas sector and industry executives getting large pay 
raises -- including Enbridge's CEO and 12 directors.

Alternatively, some of us may like to see this money, particularly the 
subsidies, going to cutting our addiction to fossil fuels through 
investing in public transit and building retrofits. With more affordable 
public transit, there could be more transit routes and the capacity to 
operate for longer hours. This means not only less cars, but also that 
those employed in shift work and out of the regular nine-to-five would 
be able to get to work more easily. This is a clear shift towards 
healthier cities and respecting all types of work that allow our cities 
and communities to function -- not just focussing on the jobs in 
northern Alberta and temporary jobs for pipeline construction.

Governments can continue to talk about deficits and budget cuts, but 
while they wonder where their money is going, our communities face the 
risk of corporate mismanagement. So where is the contingency budget for 
taking the cancer out of our water, the asthma out of our air? It 
doesn't cost that much to respect people's right to say "no" does it?










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