News Release - June 13, 2013

VANCOUVER - The Wilderness Committee is reacting to the news received today of yet another pipeline spill in western Canada, this time by Texas-based corporation Kinder Morgan, the biggest pipeline company in the US.

The true volume of the oil spill remains unclear, although Kinder Morgan reports 2,000 litres of light crude along its Trans Mountain line near Merritt, BC. This news follows immediately on the heels of another major spill of 9.5 million litres of toxic waste from an oil and gas operation in northern Alberta – the third major leak in that region in recent times.

"This spill is yet another reminder of just how dangerous these pipelines are to British Columbians and our quality of life,” said Eoin Madden, the Wilderness Committee’s Climate Change Campaigner.

Kinder Morgan aims to build an entirely new pipeline along this route, tripling the volume of tar sands diluted bitumen they ship across the interior of BC and through Vancouver. In order to ship from our west coast, the Kinder Morgan proposal will create a five-fold increase in tanker traffic, raising the number of sailings dramatically from 80 to 400 per year.

“Kinder Morgan and the Federal Government have been ignoring the clear message emerging from this part of the world:  British Columbians don’t want tar sands pipelines and tankers on their lands and in their waters,” said Madden.

“We are forced to exist in the dark as far as spills are concerned, waiting for news to break of the latest catastrophe caused by oil companies. The salt in the wound is the fact that regular folk pick up the tab when it comes to paying for the cleanup. It’s just not right,” said Madden.