Shell Canada

If you care about a healthy environment, aboriginal rights and the security of your investments… take action now!  

Summary

The recent Haida ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada held that First Nations have to be involved in “strategic decisions” such as licensing.  But Shell Canada has begun exploring for coalbed methane in the Sacred Headwaters without consulting with a representative authority amongst the Tahltan First Nation.  The Tahltan Elders are fighting to protect a territory which has special cultural and spiritual significance to them.  Shell Canada has not disclosed to their investors, creditors or other financial backers the risk that their tenure (for which they paid $1.8 million) may be invalid.  Shell Canada is also threatening to renew coalbed methane drilling in the East Kootenays. Coalbed methane development is environmentally destructive and has not been shown to coexist anywhere with a healthy salmon population.

Background

In 2005 Royal Dutch Petroleum and Shell Transport and Trading Company merged. This new company is called Royal Dutch Shell.  What we collectively know as "Shell" is in fact more than 2,000 companies engaged in the businesses of oil, natural gas, chemicals, power generation, renewable resources and coal, as well as others, throughout the world. Royal Dutch Shell is the Parent Company of the new Group but is not part of it. Shell Canada is owned by Shell Investments Limited and public shareholders.

Shell has long been a target for people concerned about human rights and environmental issues. Shell has been targeted for their:

1.    support of a brutal military regime in Nigeria’s Ogoniland (including supplying guns), and the environmental devastation it left there. Amnesty International has recently published a new report that continues to link Shell with human rights abuse in Nigeria;

2.    plans to dispose of an old oil storage platform (Brent Spar) by dumping it into the North Sea;

3.    proposal to build a massive oil extraction facility in the pristine waters off Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East;

4.    plans to drill for natural gas in an Amazonian rainforest area that Peru's government set aside as a homeland for uncontacted indigenous peoples (the Nahua);

5.    collaboration with the former apartheid government in South Africa; and

6.    a standoff with the U’wa people of the Columbian Andes (who threatened in 1997 to commit mass suicide if Shell went ahead with its drilling plans).

Shell is desperately trying to shake off this poor image by “greenwashing”, but their actions continue to outweigh their slick marketing gimmicks.

While Shell has branded itself as a "green" company their continuing actions do not live up to their own standards.  While announcing a “Mr or Mrs CO2” to spearhead efforts to tackle greenhouse gas emissions, Jeroen van der Veer, Shell's chief executive, ruled out a big increase in the company's renewable activities between now and 2015. Instead Shell intends to more than double production from the filthiest source imaginable in terms of greenhouse gas emissions–tar sands.  

Why take action?

Stikine River/Tahltan Elders

Shell Canada is exploring for coalbed methane in the Sacred Headwaters of the vast Klappan coalfield.  Coalbed methane development causes destruction of habitat, is unbelievably noisy, and can overwhelm local water resources.  It often produces billions of gallons toxic or saline water that destroys fish and other living things in rivers downstream.

From Mount Klappan flow three magnificent river systems—the Nass, Stikine and Skeena.  The surrounding Stikine watershed is an internationally significant natural area with a geological feature unparalleled in Canada. Eighty kilometres of steep-walled canyon, has been carved through eons of river erosion.  Many species frequent the area, including black and grizzly bears, mountain goats, Stone sheep, moose, caribou, wolf, coyotes, salmon, and numerous bird species.

Elders of the Tahltan First Nation began their fight in February 2005to re-establish their traditional authority over the land.  In response to development projects approved without the involvement of the Elders and others in their community, Tahltan Elders have demanded a moratorium on all new projects.  

The recent Haida ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada held that First Nations have to be involved in “strategic decisions” such as licensing.  Using this decision Dogwood Initiative has already helped Tahltan Elders to put Shell Canada and the BC provincial government “on notice” that they have legal rights to be consulted about developments on land to which they claim.

Shell Canada has not disclosed the potential invalidity of their tenures to their investors, creditors or other financial backers.

The Castle Wilderness

Along the spine of the Rocky Mountains in south western Alberta lies a narrow ribbon of forested land called The Castle Wilderness. It is an ecosystem rich in unique landscapes and unusual natural features that contains one of the highest animal and plant species diversity in Alberta. Some, such as cougar, wolf, wolverine and grizzly bear, are species whose survival in this region is threatened by human activities.  The Castle is at the heart of a narrow corridor through which wildlife populations in the northern US Rockies remain connected to those farther north in Alberta and BC. Keeping wildlife populations in touch with each other is essential to their survival.

Since 1957 over 50 wells have been drilled in the Castle Wilderness.  With these wells came an associated maze of pipelines, process facilities and roads.  Shell Canada has led the way in development in the Castle Wilderness.  

Tar Sands

Shell produces 80,000 barrels of oil per day from its tar sands project in Alberta. Development of the Alberta tar sands could be the most damaging energy project on the planet. The oil-rich sand is removed from the ground through a giant mining operation that leaves huge holes and toxic tailing ponds that you can see from the moon. The oil is then essentially cooked out of the tar-laced sand. This process consumes vast amounts of natural gas. Almost the equivalent amount of natural gas produced from the Mackenzie Valley will be needed to extract tar sands oil. In fact, it takes 5 to 10 times more energy, water, and land area to produce oil for tar sands, than conventional methods. That means 5 to 10 times the amount of greenhouse gasses are emitted. Increasing production from the tar sands would eviscerate Canada’s Kyoto commitments.  Shell has publicly stated that it intends to increase oil production from tar sands globally from 155,000 barrels at present to 500,000.

Mackenzie Valley Gas Project

After a moratorium imposed in 1977, the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline is up for consideration again.  Shell Canada is one of the four major oil and gas companies that are partners in the proposed Mackenzie Valley Gas Project.

The Mackenzie River Valley is one of North America’s great migratory bird flyways. Five globally significant Important Bird Areas (IBAs) and one continentally significant IBA stretch along the river. These are crucial staging and nesting areas for tens of thousands of waterfowl, such as tundra swans, greater white-fronted, lesser snow and Canada geese, canvasback and mallard ducks, and thousands of songbirds including the last known breeding habitat of the highly endangered Eskimo curlew. Shell’s proposed Niglintgak gas field is located in the Kendall Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary. The extraction of gas from Niglintgak could flood important bird habitat with saltwater as delta land is expected to subside by up to one metre.

The proposed 1120km pipeline will carry gas to southern markets, spurring aggressive energy development in this pristine wilderness.  More than 5000 beluga whales calve in the Mackenzie River estuary and the delta supports a large population of grizzly bears. The boreal forest of the Mackenzie Valley is also home to wolverine, wolves, moose and woodland caribou. Yet the Mackenzie Gas Project could utterly transform this wildlife Eden. Construction of the pipelines will cause ecological harm along their route. Forests will be clear-cut and heavy machinery deployed to construct the industrial infrastructure needed to extract and transport the natural gas. Increased sediment deposition into the rivers and streams of the valley, which will result from constructing pipeline crossings, will harm fish and fish habitat.

You might think of natural gas as a relatively clean form of fuel.  What you probably don’t know is that the Mackenzie Valley pipeline is potentially just phase one of a megaproject to extract and export more tar sands oil.  The proposed NorthCentral Crossing Project will connect the southern terminus of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline to Fort McMurray – the heart of the tar sands industry thus maybe facilitating increased production of this dirty fossil fuel.

Although The Mackenzie Gas Project is supported by some Aboriginal leaders, the Deh Cho (“Big River”) First Nations remain skeptical that the harm caused to the wildlife and ecology of the valley will outweigh the economic benefits. 40 per cent of the gas pipeline’s length lies on their traditional lands.  They are aggressively opposing the pipeline until their demands for a cumulative impact assessment, increase involvement in decision-making and equitable revenue-sharing are met.

Offshore Oil & Gas Exploration

In the late 1960’s Shell Canada Resources Ltd. initiated the British Columbia West Coast exploration program and drilled 14 offshore wells.  In 1972, shortly after this initial exploration phase, the Federal Government imposed an indefinite moratorium on BC offshore hydrocarbon exploration. Today, the BC provincial government is interested in lifting the Moratorium.   Dave Collyer, vice-president of frontiers with Shell Canada, said at the federal public review panel on BC offshore oil and gas: "If the moratorium were lifted, we would be interested in a future opportunity to engage in exploration activity."

Shell “owns” most of the rights off shore, but the Haida also include Queen Charlotte Waters in their land claim.  The area of the coast being considered for an offshore oil and gas industry form part of the traditional territories of several other First Nations, including the Tsimshian, Haisla, Heiltsuk, Nuxhalt, Oweekeno, and several Kwakiutl speaking Nations. First Nations continue to rely on the bounties of the land and the ocean for sustenance and to preserve their culture. It is First Nations and other coastal people who will be most directly affected by the risks associated with offshore oil and gas development.

A winter oil spill would travel north towards the islands of Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands), traditional territory of the Haida who have launched a lawsuit seeking recognition of the Haida Nation’s Aboriginal title to the lands and waters of Haida Gwaii. The islands of Haida Gwaii are ecologically and culturally unique, and boast Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Canada’s Pacific ocean supports a wide range of sea life including Gray, Humpback, Orca, Fin and Minke whales, Pacific white-sided dolphin, Dall’s porpoise, Stellar sea lion, and the northern fur seal. The Exxon Valdez oil spill killed an estimated 2,200 Harbour seals, 22 Orca whales and 25 Gray whales. Do we really want to risk a disaster like that here?

Every spring and fall over 20,000 Gray whales migrate along the north and central coast of British Columbia on their voyage between Mexico’s Baja California and summer feeding grounds in the Bering Sea. Studies in Russia found that Gray whales will avoid an area where seismic testing is occurring even if it is critical feeding habitat.

In addition to the 400 species of fish in the marine ecosystem, birds such as great blue herons, bald eagles, kingfishers, albatrosses, swans, ducks and loons frequent the coast and could be negatively impacted by an offshore oil and gas industry, whether by an oil spill or low-level pollution. In addition, the birds of the coast feed at all levels of the marine food web and are therefore vulnerable to any impacts or decreases in their food supply.  The Scott Islands, a cluster of rugged isolated islands off the north end of Vancouver Island, are home to some of British Columbia’s most important bird colonies, including the Cassin’s Auklet, which is listed as a threatened species.

Approximately 650 rivers and streams have been identified as salmon spawning streams in this region of the coast. Salmon has been identified as a keystone species which supports a diversity of marine life as well as contributing to the fertility of the forest ecosystem.

The area where the governments of Canada and British Columbia have issued oil leases is the most earthquake prone region in Canada. Tremors of varying degrees occur on almost a daily basis. In August 2001, 26 tremors were recorded around Haida Gwaii. This alone should be reason enough to question the prudence of allowing offshore development here.

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