noline9

This evening (Nov 12, 2015) the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation in southern Ontario announced that they will launch an appeal to the supreme court of Canada regarding the decision to approve the reversal of Enbridge's line 9 pipeline. If the project is allowed to proceed it will result in Bakken fracked oil and diluted tar sands bitumen piped across every river flowing from southern Ontario into the great lakes in a 40 year old pipeline which was not designed for extreme energy transportation.

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”.

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.