Red Deer River Oil Spill: Living With Pipelines Part 3 of 3

Children playing in Red Deer River. Photo, Courtesy CanEnviroRock

Pipeline leak near Sundre takes toll on Gateway project

Opponents point to spill, warn of risks

By James Wood And Chris Varcoe, 

Calgary Herald 

June 17, 2012

An oil spill in central Alberta flowed into the Red Deer River system, but its ultimate effect may be felt thousands of kilometres away, over the Rocky Mountains.

Just over a week ago, a section of pipeline running under a tributary of the river near Sundre leaked up to 475,000 litres of oil, with much of it flushed into nearby Gleniffer Lake.

Today, the spill threatens to give Premier Alison Redford a major political headache as she touts pipeline expansion across the continent and a Canadian energy strategy aimed at boosting Alberta oil and gas exports.

With British Columbia in the midst of ongoing federal hearings - and a ferocious debate - over Enbridge's proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, the Alberta oil slick has provided a vivid image to fears of the project.

In Burns Lake, B.C., a community of more than 3,500 people along the proposed pipeline route, a tie vote of the village council last week meant the narrow defeat of a motion opposing the pipeline.

Mayor Luke Strimbold wants the village to stay officially neutral on Gateway until the end of a joint regulatory review process.

The Sundre leak won't be a deciding factor, he said, but is firmly on the community's radar.

"It's definitely something we are aware of and we take into consideration," Strimbold said.

"It's definitely a concern. (Gateway) would go right underneath, in-between the channel of Burns Lake and Decker Lake . . . where we collect our drinking water and that was one of the concerns of the residents."

For opponents of Gateway, such as Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the B.C. Union of Indian Chiefs, the spill has galvanized their concerns and public opinion.

"I don't think there's any question people quickly linked the spill in Alberta to the inherent risks of building

a pipeline across 1,100 kilometres of territory that has many, many significant rivers, streams and watersheds that are integral to the wild salmon fishery here in British Columbia," he said.

"It doesn't bode well . . . to convince people this is a riskfree project that we need not worry about."

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