Dear Editor,
After the English Bay oil spill and the port fire in Squamish, we Concerned Citizens of Bowen Island felt we had to be on the ground in the community. So last Saturday we set up table at Village Square and the response of the people was like I have never seen before. I have been at many tables and booths through out the years, but this, was something else. On a small table with a big map of Howe Sound, we placed our declaration, email list sign up sheets, stickers and information materials about the proposed Woodfibre LNG facility and the Eagle Mountain – Woodfibre pipeline.
These two proposals are very much linked. We have the Woodfibre LNG proposal that would be sufficiently supplied with natural gas through the existing 10” diameter pipeline coming from the Coquitlam, where it connects to the natural gas pipeline bringing natural gas from fracking operations in North Eastern BC. Interestingly, Fortis has a proposal before the Environmental Assessment Office to enlarge this pipeline between Coquitlam and the Woodfibre site from 10” to 24” diameter, increasing the capacity almost 6 times. Why? Is it because the Woodfibre LNG proposal is only 1/6 the size the company andgovernment want it to be overtime? A Woodfibre LNG 6 times the size of the current proposal would mean, 100,000 tons of cooling water per hour instead of 17,000 tons, and 24 to 28 LNG tanker return trips per month instead of 4 to 5.
With last week’s experience of what “world-class response and cleanup” to an oil spill Most people needed very little or no information and encouragement to sign our declaration, which asks the Provincial and Federal Governments to reject the Woodfibre LNG proposal.
We will be setting up tables in the cove this weekend and we hope youwill stop by with your questions about Woodfibre LNG, and sign our declaration.
On behalf of Concerned Citizens Bowen,
Anton van Walraven
