This page contains annotated news stories and press releases with commentary about land reform and the democratic process in British Columbia. Our comments are shown in red.
Crews cleaning up pipeline rupture in B.C. Interior
Aug 10, 2007Environmental crews in northeastern British Columbia are quietly cleaning up an oil spill after a pipeline rupture a few weeks ago.
The B.C. Oil and Gas commission said it doesn't know why the pipeline ruptured a few hundred kilometres northeast of Fort Nelson, but the leak was quickly contained.
Nobody was injured in the incident and environmental damage was minimal, the commission's communications manager told CBC News.
But Lee Shanks said there are many more serious pipeline problems each year that few hear about.
The commission recorded 320 incidents last year, 10 per cent of which were a threat to people and the environment, she said.
"It could be anything from a pipeline break to a valve not being installed properly, so there's product leaking from that valve or it could be gas leaking into the air that shouldn't be," Shanks said.
The commission oversees the pipelines that begin and end inside the province — 43,000 kilometres in all.
With the B.C. government's seeking to add more pipelines in the province, more unreported problems might be on the horizon, said Eric Swanson, a researcher with the Dogwood Initiative, an environment group that advocates sustainable land reform.
"These incidents tell us that accidents are a matter of when, not if," Swanson said.
"Whether we're talking about pipeline ruptures or potential spills from tankers off the coast or the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the industry, these incidents tell us there are very real and irreversible consequences associated with the industry," he said.
The B.C. Oil and Gas commission said it doesn't know why the pipeline ruptured a few hundred kilometres northeast of Fort Nelson, but the leak was quickly contained.
Nobody was injured in the incident and environmental damage was minimal, the commission's communications manager told CBC News.
But Lee Shanks said there are many more serious pipeline problems each year that few hear about.
The commission recorded 320 incidents last year, 10 per cent of which were a threat to people and the environment, she said.
"It could be anything from a pipeline break to a valve not being installed properly, so there's product leaking from that valve or it could be gas leaking into the air that shouldn't be," Shanks said.
The commission oversees the pipelines that begin and end inside the province — 43,000 kilometres in all.
With the B.C. government's seeking to add more pipelines in the province, more unreported problems might be on the horizon, said Eric Swanson, a researcher with the Dogwood Initiative, an environment group that advocates sustainable land reform.
"These incidents tell us that accidents are a matter of when, not if," Swanson said.
"Whether we're talking about pipeline ruptures or potential spills from tankers off the coast or the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the industry, these incidents tell us there are very real and irreversible consequences associated with the industry," he said.
