Opposition to Kinder Morgan forces company to suspend work

 

VANCOUVER – Ongoing protests, court challenges and new provincial oil spill measures forced Kinder Morgan to halt spending on its pipeline this weekend, further raising hopes the project will be scrapped by the end of May.

 

“We’re not quite out of the woods yet but it sure feels like we’re close,” said Wilderness Committee Climate Campaigner Peter McCartney. “Now even the company admits this pipeline’s days are numbered.”

 

All the uncertainty surrounding the project has made it hard for the company to attract the remaining investment it needs.

 

“Investors see a project with no definite price tag or completion date and cannot put their money behind it,” said McCartney. “There’s just one certainty when it comes to this pipeline and it’s that British Columbians will fight this tooth and nail.”

 

While provincial and federal governments trade barbs about the pipeline, 18 court cases are still waiting for a ruling which could stop or at least delay the project.

 

“All the bluster out of Ottawa about seeing this pipeline built ignores the fact that the courts have not had their say on the approval,” said McCartney. “We expect to hear a judgement soon and that could be the final nail in the coffin for Kinder Morgan.”

 

Regardless of legal and regulatory manoeuvres, Wilderness Committee and the tens of thousands of people who oppose the project will continue to work tirelessly to stop it.

 

“Kinder Morgan now sees the writing on the wall and looks ready to pack it in,” said McCartney. “But we’re not going anywhere until this pipeline no longer poses a threat to the coast, the climate and Indigenous communities along the route.”

 

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For more information, please contact:

 

Peter McCartney | Climate Campaigner,  Wilderness Committee

778-239-1935, peter@wildernesscommittee.org