Media

Media Related To Line 9 and Waterloo Region

Small Victory for No Line 9 Campaign

The National Energy Board denies Enbridge’s request to start pipeline

Small Victory for No Line 9 Campaign
On Monday, October 6, the National Energy Board (NEB) released a letter temporarily denying Enbridge’s "Leave to Open" submission on Line 9 based on the inadequacy of the valve safety standards on the pipeline. The NEB is requiring that Enbridge install valves on both sides of all Major Water Crossings and other significant areas in order to “limit damage from accidental discharge” and provide “automatic blockage of the pipeline”.

Grand River Indigenous Solidarity's No Line 9 Presentation to the NEB

On October 17th 2013, a delegation from Grand River Indigenous Solidarity, a grassroots collective of activists working on settler responsibility on occupied territory, presented to the NEB hearings into the line 9 pipeline reversal project.

After convincing the NEB, through a 10 page application that they were a "potentially affected party", GRIS presented as intervenors in the hearings, giving evidence into the failure to uphold treaty responsibilities or honour agreements around consultation and free, prior, and informed consent.

While focusing mainly on the Grand River watershed, the so-called "Haldimand Tract" of the Haundenosaunee, GRIS also brought up the canadian Charter, the Two Row Wampum, the Nan fan Treaty, the Royal Proclamation, and the UN declaration on the rights of Indigenous peoples in their evidence.

Environmental concerns, lack of community benefits, and the unwise creation of more carbon fuel infrastructure were also discussed as points against Enbridge's Line 9 project.

listen to audio: http://grandrivermc.ca/grrr/noLine9-2014-10-17-GRIS-NEBPresentation.mp3

From VICE Canada: Enbridge's Line 9 Pipeline Could be Catastrophic for Ontario and Quebec



The after effects of Lyle Lanley's monorail bears eerie similarities to the potential impact Line 9 could have in Canada. via the Simpsons Wiki.

In a classic episode of the Simpsons, a travelling salesman named Lyle Lanley visits a town meeting and convinces the people of Springfield to invest in a monorail—a lavish train system that the town welcomes with a song. But Marge Simpson remains skeptical, so she visits North Haverbrook where a previous Lanley monorail was built: Houses and businesses are abandoned, people are traumatized, and the remains of a derailed train hang precariously off of broken tracks in the town’s centre. A scientist clarifies, “this is all that’s left of one of the crappiest trains ever built.” But Marge is too late to warn Springfield and on the new monorail’s maiden voyage its brakes fail, nearly killing everyone on board. Meanwhile, Lyle Lanley boards a flight out of town with two giant suitcases full of money.

Enbridge’s new proposal for its 37-year-old Line 9 pipeline is a lot like the Springfield monorail. The people of Ontario and Quebec are being sold on a tar sands pipeline that has a “high risk” of rupture in its “early years” of operation. And a rupture of this pipeline, which cuts through the most densely populated part of Canada and crosses twelve major watersheds, could result in an unprecedented catastrophe. Never before has a pipeline carrying diluted tar sands bitumen (dilbit) passed through, or ruptured in, a major urban centre.

Defend the Land, Protect the Grand! No Line 9 Presentation to the Grand River Conservation Authority

On September 27th 2023, the Waterloo Region Coalition Against Line 9 Presented at the monthly general meeting of the Grand River Conservation Authority, urging the council to release a statement of concern on dangers of the Line 9 pipeline. Settler responsibilities to the Haundenosaunee was also stressed in the 10 Minute Presentation.

While some council members were obviously interested in the topic, the GRCA took no action to address the specific threats to the Grand River watershed posed by the pipeline.

Listen here: http://grandrivermc.ca/grrr/noLine9-2013-09-27-GRCApresentation.mp3

Waterloo Region Against Line 9 Presentation to Regional Council (#1 - Sept 2013)

In September 2013, the Waterloo Region Coalition Against Line 9 sent a
delegation to present to Waterloo Regional Council in an effort to move the
Region to take a stand against Enbridge's Line 9 reversal, bringing forward
the grave concerns surrounding the transport of diluted bitumen and fracked
oil across the region, and impressing upon the region their location on Six
Nations treaty territory and the obligations that come with this
relationship.

Following the Coalition's presentation, the Region of Waterloo issued a
statement of concern regarding Line 9 which was sent to the National Energy
Board, outlining their conditions for the project, which included the
creation of a billion dollar contingency fund that would be held by
Enbridge. Their concerns and requests, like those of numerous intervenors
in the NEB hearings and other affected parties, went unheeded as the NEB
rubber-stamped Enbridge's plan.

At the time of this presentation, Enbridge had only acknowledged 12 of the
35 spills it actually recorded on Line 9. This significantly higher figure
only came to light through investigative journalism, and still only
represents the number of spills of quantities exceeding the threshold for
an official report. If bitumen ever flows through Line 9, the number of
spills is sure to climb, and the impacts of each incident will be
disastrously larger.

A question period and discussion followed the presentation and is also presented here.

Stop Line 9! Local coalition takes message to Regional Council, urges action against Enbridge pipeline project

WHAT: Rally and delegation to Regional Council opposing Enbridge's Line 9 reversal

WHEN: Wednesday, September 18, 6:00 p.m.

WHERE: Regional Council, 150 Frederick St., Kitchener

As the National Energy Board prepares to take public input on Enbridge Energy Inc.’s proposal to pump tar sands bitumen through Line 9 — a 38-year-old pipeline that crosses through Waterloo Region — a local coalition of over 20 groups is urging the Region to take a stand against the controversial project. On Wednesday, local residents concerned about the pipeline project will hold a rally outside before presenting in the council meeting. Concerns cited by the coalition include Enbridge's abysmal safety record, with over 800 spills in the past decade and widespread failure to comply with safety requirements, and the particularly severe environmental risk posed by diluted bitumen as opposed to regular crude oil.

Additionally, Enbridge's proposal has been advanced without proper consultation of affected Indigenous communities, which puts the project in violation of numerous treaties. These concerns and others are articulated in the coalition's Declaration of Opposition to Line 9, which will be presented to council. Join us at the rally and council meeting to hear why the wide range of local groups are saying 'no' to Enbridge's Line 9 reversal.

Members of the coalition will also be presenting at the Grand River Conservation Authority’s monthly meeting on Sept. 27 and at National Energy Board hearings, which will take place from Oct. 8-11 (Montreal) and Oct. 16-19 (Toronto).

http://noline9wr.ca
@noLine9wr
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Enbridge’s plans for 40-year-old pipeline raising concerns

Waterloo Region Record

WATERLOO REGION — It runs straight across the region’s southern edge, under rivers and roadways, pumping a steady stream of crude oil beneath our feet.

The pipeline, known as Line 9, has been buried under the Grand River and North Dumfries Township since the mid-1970s. It’s a major artery for foreign crude headed west to refineries in Sarnia, long forgotten and hardly noticed by residents here.

But a proposed change to Line 9 is bringing new concerns about the safety of the 40-year-old pipeline. Environmentalists warn that a plan by Calgary-based Enbridge Pipelines to reverse the direction of flow and start pumping crude oil eastward from Alberta could expose our region to contamination.

They warn that if Enbridge begins pumping watered-down bitumen crude from Alberta’s oilsands, a more corrosive version of light crude oil, the decades-old pipeline could be pushed to the limit.

They point to a major spill in the Kalamazoo River in Michigan after an Enbridge pipeline carrying bitumen ruptured less than three years ago, spilling 3.3 million litres of oil. That pipeline was of similar vintage as Line 9 and likewise not built for this new, riskier kind of crude oil, activists argue.

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