by Betty Zaikow When I was a child, I spent countless hours on the beaches and rugged coastline. The ocean and intertidal zones were filled with amazing creatures and sea life, much like the waters in the north still support. Now, when my grandchildren and I go to the same beaches, very few of the sea creatures are there, including the kelp beds.
No government agencies seem to know the interconnectedness of our oceans or else there would not be 32 species living in these waters that are listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern.
We need a plan that will reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, not increase them. I do not support the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline and the tanker traffic that would result from the expansion of the tar sands.
In February 1974, four tank cars carrying 360 tons of liquid chlorine were lost in the Strait of Georgia. To quote Don Lockstead, MLA at the time, “If one of those tanks should rupture or rust through, and with the prevailing wind in that area, it could easily wipe out a whole town.”
These tanks were double-sheathed with an outer covering three-quarters of an inch thick. These chlorine tanks have never been recovered.
I had a nine-month-old baby at the time and lived with the fear that we might be poisoned by chlorine gas. Now I have four innocent and trusting grandchildren.
I still do not know if one day these tanks, that may take 25 to 40 years to rust out, might spew their deadly contents. The weather conditions were mild at the time the chlorine tanks went missing and the sea was not very rough. Officials could not explain the “incident.”
The weather conditions in the north are extremely treacherous, much more so than Malaspina Strait. I feel that an “incident” with these massive tankers will happen sooner than anyone could imagine. Nobody has taken responsibility for these missing chlorine tanks, not the federal government, not the provincial government, not the paper mill to where they were headed, not the shipping company and not the chemical company. I wonder who will take responsibility for the spill that will occur when one of these massive supertankers gets into trouble. Even if someone does take responsibility, it will be too late, for we will have destroyed one of the most precious ecosystems on the planet.
People of the first nations have lived with and respected the animals, plants, trees and waters for thousands of years. We have no right to go into their territory and destroy their way of life living off the land. The Great Bear Rainforest is one of the largest intact and rare ecosystems left on Earth today. We do not have the right to put it at risk.
The time has come to slow the tar sands development and refine the oil in Canada. We need to keep this precious oil for future generations. We need to cut down on our carbon emissions. We need to give subsidies to alternative energy sources and not the huge for-profit mega oil companies.
Betty Zaikow has lived on the coast for over 60 years, mainly on Texada Island. This Viewpoint is part of her presentation at a public hearing on the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.
