Media Release
Media Release
For immediate release - Tues, November 5, 2013
Vancouver, BC – Today’s framework agreement by British Columbia and Alberta to find ways to transport oil through B.C. does not address the unacceptable risk of a major oil spill in the Great Bear region, according to WWF-Canada and Coastal First Nations.
“This doesn’t change our view that transporting diluted bitumen along B.C.'s north coast poses a grave and inevitable risk to the communities and ecosystems of the Great Bear region,” says WWF President and CEO David Miller. “The only way to avoid such a risk is to agree this is not the place for oil pipelines and oil tankers.”
“We have spent the last decade building a conservation-based economy”, says Art Sterritt, Executive Director of the Coastal First Nations. “The proposed pipeline would bring as many as 220 supersized oil tankers into B.C.’s sensitive coastal waters every year. It could damage or destroy the cultural, ecological, and economic values this region offers and it’s a big step back from the hard work done to manage and safeguard this global treasure.”
In a letter to WWF and Coastal First Nations in July, Premier Christy Clark acknowledged the province was not in favour of the Northern Gateway Project because ‘government ultimately believes the environmental concerns of British Columbians have not been adequately addressed.”
Not only have these concerns still not been addressed say WWF-Canada and Coastal First Nations, but a recent study by the Province reveals only three to four per cent of a 10-thousand tonne oil spill on B.C’s north coast would be recovered after five days.
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WWF and Coastal First Nations are working on a joint campaign to safeguard communities and ecosystems of the Great Bear. The Great Bear region of British Columbia’s north coast is one of the world’s largest remaining intact coastal temperate rainforests; it contains some of the Earth’s most pristine wild salmon rivers and is one of the richest and most spectacular ecosystems on our planet. It is home to B.C.’s Coastal First Nations communities.
Resources
Canadians for the Great Bear http://www.wwf.ca/conservation/oceans/greatbearsea/canadians_for_the_great_bear_sea/
About WWF
WWF is creating solutions to the most serious conservation challenges facing our planet, helping people and nature thrive. www.wwf.ca
Contact Information
Jo Anne Walton WWF-Canada
604.787.3103
jwalton@wwfcanada.org
Bessie Brown, Coastal First Nations
604.696.9889