This year marked the Third Annual Salish Sea Summer Gathering in Whey-ah Wichen/Cates Park in North Vancouver, hosted by the Tsleil Waututh Nation Sacred Trust. West Coast Environmental Law was pleased to be a part of the day and be a sponsor of this event. Held on August 10th, the gathering featured Juno-winning musical acts, a poetry stage, a traditional canoe panel, and a great lineup of speakers including Rex Weiler, Chiefs affected by the Mt. Polley mine tailings pond spill, Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan, and West Coast Environmental Law Staff Lawyer Eugene Kung.
It was a beautiful sunny day in the park, and the Summer Gathering happened amidst tons of other park users who were swimming, sunning themselves, and having family picnics on the picturesque beach. This stood in stark contrast to what could happen to the beach if the Kinder Morgan oil pipelines and tankers expansion were to go through, and if there were to be a catastrophic oil spill in these waters.
For the past three years, the Salish Sea Summer Gathering has been raising awareness about the Tsleil Waututh Nation’s opposition to the proposed Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project in its territory. The Trans Mountain Pipeline from the Alberta tar sands to BC’s Lower Mainland was originally built in 1953 for domestic use. Kinder Morgan, the American oil company that purchased the pipeline in 2005, wants to twin the pipeline and dramatically expand tanker traffic in Burrard Inlet in order to sell tar sands oil to Asian and other international markets, ramping up the capacity of the Westridge Terminal oil port in Burnaby. This will mean a massive increase in tanker traffic in Burrard Inlet, and an increased risk of oil spills on the shores of the densely populated Lower Mainland. Neither First Nations nor the citizens of the Lower Mainland have ever been consulted about whether they want oil tankers here in the first place, and now industry wants to transform the Lower Mainland into the world’s largest tar sands marine port.
Kinder Morgan wants to build a new pipeline that will run alongside the existing pipeline, and to increase capacity to 890,000 barrels per day from its current 300,000 barrels per day. If the expansion happens, oil tanker traffic will increase by 700%, from 60 tankers per year to more than a tanker per day.
However, opposition to this risky project is growing. Last year, the Lummi Nation of Washington State – whose territory would also be affected by an oil spill - gifted a totem pole to the Tsleil Waututh Nation, symbolizing their unity in opposing the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain expansion project. The totem pole is erected in Tsleil Waututh territory in North Vancouver and looks out over Burrard Inlet to the Kinder Morgan Westridge terminal in Burnaby. The name of the totem pole is “Kwel hoy’,” meaning “we draw the line.” At the 2012 Salish Sea Summer Gathering the Tsleil Waututh, Squamish, and Musqueam Nations, whose territories include Burrard Inlet and Howe Sound, signed the Save the Fraser Declaration, banning the transportation of tar sands oil through their territories – including the Lower Mainland – as a matter of Indigenous law. And just recently, the Tsleil Waututh Nation launched a legal challenge of the National Energy Board’s review of the Kinder Morgan project; the case was granted leave to appeal by the Federal Court of Appeal. The NEB review process is facing challenges on numerous fronts.
The Summer Gathering was well-attended by community members, and West Coast volunteers (and myself) had a great time chatting with people about the work that West Coast is doing to help keep BC oil spill-free. It was great to see so many people come out and show that they will stand together to keep these waters safe and usable for generations to come. Thanks to all who stopped by our table, and thanks of course to the Salish Sea Summer Gathering organizers for putting on such a great event.
By Jeanette Ageson, Communications and Development Manager