Right now, while our pals at Kinder Morgan are holding public info sessions at schools and community centres in BC, the company is facing a lawsuit in the U.S. over a pipeline leak that’s been suspected for causing a number of childhood cancer cases.

The tragic scene has unfolded over several years in a place called Fallon, Nevada, where a Kinder Morgan pipeline started leaking jet fuel into the ground beneath a school playground over a decade ago. Witnesses say it took the company up to a year to repair the pipeline. In a period of just four years after the leak was discovered, 17 different leukemia cases were diagnosed in children from the school, and in 2008, 10-year-old Ryan Brune succumbed to a rare form of brain cancer. Scientists have said it’s likely that more adult cancer cases will be discovered in years to come.

Now Ryan’s mother is taking the company to court, and trying to spread the word about the risks posed by oil and gas pipelines that run through communities just like ours. Our hearts go out to the families of cancer victims in Fallon, and we hope that their experience will serve as a warning to Canadians about the long term health and safety impacts of these kinds of projects.

This Saturday, November 24, Kinder Morgan is hosting yet another one of their “information sessions” at Stoney Creek Community School in Burnaby. The existing Trans Mountain pipeline—which the company plans to “twin” in order to more than double its capacity—runs parallel to the school’s playground and right underneath the nearby organic community food garden. Like our allies at Burnaby Residents Opposed to Kinder Morgan Expansion (BROKE), we have serious concerns about the impact of both the existing and proposed pipelines on the health of students, teachers and residents.

We want to help BROKE show that this pipeline project is not worth the risk to our communities. That’s why we’re encouraging supporters like you to join us outside Saturday’s info session at Stoney Creek School in Burnaby (2740 Beaverbrook Cres.) between 1:00 and 4:00 p.m., to express opposition to this potentially harmful pipeline project. If you don’t live in the area, click here to check out the list of other upcoming sessions, or email sven@tankerfreebc.org to help coordinate an action in your community.

To read more about the Fallon cancer cluster, check out this news article.

We can’t let what happened in Nevada happen to our children, families and neighbours here in BC. Please help us spread the word!

Thank you,

Ben West | Healthy Communities Campaigner

Photo: Watson Elementary School in Chilliwack is just one of many schools in BC built near or on top of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline. Photo courtesy of the PIPE UP Network.