SOOKE STANDS FIRM - Face to face with Kinder Morgan

Following is an email synopsis of a Sooke, BC, Council meeting with Kinder Morgan by a Dogwood Initiative organizer:

SOOKE STANDS FIRM - Face to face with Kinder Morgan


Terry Dance-Bennink, April 8th, 2015.


Hi BCSEA colleagues,

I thought you'd find this interesting.  It was quite a meeting last
night - polite but passionate - and Sooke Council and the entire
audience stood firm!  Here's my synopsis.

Kinder Morgan has been on the road lately offering money to
communities who'll support their pipeline project.  They found no
buyers in Sooke last night.

'Go home! You're not welcome in our town!' was the unequivocal message
delivered by a polite but passionate crowd in Sooke.  Unlike the
National Energy Board hearings, the public got to hear Kinder Morgan
in person for the first time, and Kinder Morgan (KM) had to face the
music.  Michael Davies, Kinder Morgan's Senior Director Marine
Development, looked exhausted by 9 pm as he struggled to respond to
our comments.

Davies spent a good half an hour outlining Kinder Morgan's plan to
triple the capacity of its pipeline and increase its oil tankers from
5 to 34 a month, with at least 30% carrying diluted bitumen.  He
showed us a map of congested ship traffic through the Strait of Juan
de Fuca, right past Sooke, and listed their marine safety
enhancements. "We're just the FEDEX of the oil and gas industry," he
explained.  "And there will be 100 new jobs for spill response when we
have a spill."  Note the word "when" not "if".  A slip of the tongue?

Sooke was promised 12 jobs and a warehouse, docks, and oil spill
response equipment!  No one was impressed.

Sooke Mayor, Maja Tait, reviewed the history of Sooke's opposition to
expanded tanker traffic, and then asked KM to comment on the recent
Mayors Declaration calling for a halt to the NEB hearings and an
independent BC environmental review.  She also challenged him to
explain why KM has not released its full oil spill response strategy
as they've done in Washington state.  Davies blamed the NEB and our
federal/provincial governments. "There's no provincial or federal
requirement for posting of oil spill response plans," he stated.

Councillor Kasper expressed concern about a 72 hour wait for
assistance in the event of a spill.  "We'd be on our own and hard
pressed to deal with it," he pointed out.  Councillor Rae noted that
our spill response capacity is currently inadequate, let alone after a
dramatic expansion in the number of tankers. The crowd grew noticeably
edgy as Davies walked us through the steps involved in an actual spill
response.  It became all too real.

Newly elected Councillor Logan (under age 30 and one of our
champions), asked Davies if local fishermen would be trained in spill
response.  “Yes, indeed," he said falling into her trap.  "That's good
because they’ll probably be out of work after an oil spill," she
observed wryly.

Then the public got its turn for almost an hour. Dogwood's Sooke
chapter had prepared a flyer with facts on the risky business of oil
tankers along with pointed questions for Kinder Morgan. Here's a
sample of what Sooke citizens and others had to say.

"Our coast is known as the graveyard of the Pacific... We've had
destructive spills here in the 80s, so I hope Council will honour our
plebiscite and stand firm in its opposition to Kinder Morgan's plan."
(Mr. Sinclair)

"You seem like a nice guy, Mr. Davies, but your industry is a disaster
for West Coast people.  We remember the Exxon Valdez.  Why don't you
look to the future?  What do you talk about in your boardrooms? You
should be talking about solar energy!"  (Ralph Hull)

"Dilbit is known to sink in less than 24 hours and yet you cite a 36
hour response time!" (Gail Armitage)

"We provide local employment for 12 people in two marine based
companies...we are already concerned about the amount of tanker
traffic let alone more. Why don't you use a worst case scenario in
your risk assessment modelling as is standard practice?....Don't be
beguiled by Kinder Morgan - let's protect our existing jobs."  (George
Butcher, marine biologist)

"Your project is illegal under Coast Salish law!  First Nations on the
shores of the Salish Sea have prohibited increased transport of tar
sands in their international treaty signed last September
....Metchosin's Wildlife Recovery centre can handle only 4 oil-soaked
sea birds at a time!"  (Frances Litman, Green Party candidate for
Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke).

"The strong currents in the Strait of Juan de Fuca will make oil spill
recovery almost impossible...and who will pay for it all?  The
taxpayer, not the transporter of oil."

"When seven mayors of major BC cities like Vancouver, Burnaby, and
Victoria declare their non-confidence in the NEB and demand a halt to
the proceedings, that's a problem!  (Margaret Critchlow).

"You talk about 12 jobs for Sooke, but your industry is subsidized by
our tax dollars to the tune of $34 billion a year!  And oil and gas
contribute just 3 percent to BC's GDP and 1.3 percent of total BC
jobs....(Terry Dance-Bennink, Dogwood regional organizer)

"I'm so proud of Sooke.  You're the Kitimat of southern BC, one of
only two cities  to put oil tanker expansion to a public vote last
year.  Your Council has courage!  The people of Kitimat have hopefully
stopped Enbridge in its tracks - now we have to stop Kinder Morgan.
Seventy percent of those who voted in Sooke said NO to more oil
tankers, which means  Kinder Morgan has no social license in this town
- or any other BC coastal town! (Terry Dance-Bennink, Dogwood regional
organizer).

We left the meeting sobered by the reality of Kinder Morgan's plan but
proud of our resistance.  Not one person spoke in favour of more
tankers off our coast.