A representative from the Tsleil-Wauthuth Nation told Bowen Island's Mayor and Council that Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project puts the entire Salish Sea at risk by a increasing the number of tankers carrying raw bitumen. Carleen A. Thomas is the Intergovernmental Relations Manager for the Nation's Sacred Trust Initiative, which is mandated to oppose the project.
"Tsleil-Waututh means people of the Inlet, and it is our sacred obligation to protect the land of our people," Thomas told council. "In our Grandparent's generation, we could sustain ourselves on what we found in the Burrard Inlet, things like herring and sea urchins, which, because of industrialization, are no longer available to us."
Thomas said the Tsleil-Waututh is working hard to protect what the sea-life that still exists in Howe Sound for future generations.
"And we should keep that bitumen in the ground, because someday it will be oil. Our great, great grandchildren might need it."
Thomas has travelled along the pipeline to meet with other First Nations and municipalities to discuss the Tsleil-Waututh concerns.
"We [First Nations] are connected by the water, by the rivers, and by the salmon. I'm sure that other British Columbians can appreciate this connection as well."
If the Trans Mountain Pipeline is expanded, it will carry nearly 900 thousand barrels of raw bitumen from Alberta to the Westridge Terminal in Burnaby. Tanker traffic through the Burrard Inlet will increase from 5 tankers per month to 34.
Thomas pointed to a history of poor results in cleaning up bitumen spills as opposed to oil spills as a particular risk.
"When it [bitumen] hits the water, it balls up and sticks to the bottom. A 15 percent recovery of a bitumen spill is considered a successful clean up. This is unacceptable."
Thomas said wanted to share this information in the hopes that the Bowen council might actively oppose the expansion of the pipeline. The Sacred Trust Initiative has found strong allies in the mayors and councils of Vancouver and Burnaby. In 2012, the Union of BC Municipalities passed a resolution against any expansion of oil tanker traffic on the West Coast.
Councillor Wolfgang Duntz told Thomas that Bowen Island is a part of the Islands Trust which stands very strongly against the expansion of the pipeline.
"I think a majority of Bowen Islanders would agree with us, and with you," said Duntz. "Maybe the time has come for us to have that debate on council."
Thomas says she would be happy to return to Bowen to present the research of the Sacred Trust Initiative to any concerned citizens on Bowen Island.
"Anyone who is concerned about this project can apply for intervenor status when the National Energy Board hearings come up," says Thomas. "We all have a right to protect our little corner of God's creation."
