Eighteen months after being ordered to correct important safety issues with its oil and gas pipelines, Enbridge has finally filed a plan with the National Energy Board (NEB) as to how and when it will come into compliance with the NEB’s regulations. The company doesn’t want its plan made public, however, and has asked the NEB to keep its filing confidential. A ruling is expected later this week.
“Enbridge is desperately trying to convince Canadians that its pipelines are safe, but doesn’t want any public scrutiny of its safety plans,” said Maryam Adrangi, energy campaigner for the Council of Canadians. “After the catastrophic pipeline rupture in Kalamazoo, public oversight is more important than ever.”
Over two years after the Kalamazoo spill, there is still notable contamination. Many Canadians are raising concerns that a similarly devastating spill could happen along Line 9, which is part of the same Enbridge pipeline network as Kalamazoo.
“How can we even consider letting Enbridge pump heavy crude through the heart of the Great Lakes watershed in a forty-year-old pipeline that doesn’t meet today’s safety standards?” asked Emma Lui, water campaigner for the Council of Canadians. “Enbridge has shown itself to be incompetent and irresponsible in the past, and now it wants to keep critical safety information secret from the public. That’s not how you win the trust of Canadians.”
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Twitter: @CouncilOfCDNs | www.canadians.org
