The letter-writer asks what fuels propel protesters, Elizabeth May and commodities. I can answer that question: refined oil products.
However, that is not what Kinder Morgan intends to pipe through our wilderness and tank along our coast. Refined fuels pose a moderate risk to our environment but, with enough effort and resources, can be cleaned up.
Kinder Morgan wants to pipe and tank diluted bitumen, entirely different from refined oil products and one that poses an unacceptably high and potentially lethal risk to our environment. It’s unacceptable, partially because it cannot be cleaned up and also because it is extremely toxic.
If you don’t believe me, read about the Enbridge spill in the Kalamazoo River in Michigan; they are still trying to clean it up six years later. Compared with a tanker on the rocks in Juan de Fuca Strait or a leak into our precious Fraser River, that would be a children’s tea party.
If Alberta, as suggested by May, were to refine the raw bitumen, perhaps then British Columbians should seriously consider allowing it to be transported through our wilderness and coast.
I have never been a strong supporter of Elizabeth May, but I am willing to go to jail with her.
Michael Fall
Ladysmith
