Tsleil-Waututh-Waututh, a First Nation community in the lower mainland

Tsleil-Waututh-Waututh, a First Nation community in the lower mainland   of British Columbia, wants a moratorium on any new pipelines until an emergency-response protocol can be improved. The demand was made after Suncor Energy Inc. failed to notify Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, located along the Burrard Inlet, after a spill of about 225 barrels of a soybean-based diesel fuel at the company’s Port Moody location. Some of the spill entered the inlet. The company said the product is not environmentally hazardous. Tsleil-Waututh said the BC Ministry of the Environment did not notify the community until four days after the spill, and the company did not contact the community at all. “That lack of communication is unacceptable. The point is something has spilled and will have an impact or an effect on the lands and the water,” said Tsleil-Waututh spokesperson Carleen Thomas. The ministry said it doesn’t notify the public unless there is an imminent risk to health or safety. It requires the company to notify local governments, including First Nations. A Suncor spokesperson said both provincial and federal regulators were notified immediately of the spill. Thomas said the spill demonstrates that BC is not prepared to deal with these kinds of incidents. “This makes me wonder how many of these small spills happen on a daily basis that British Columbians aren’t aware of.” Tsleil-Waututh Nation is opposed to the expansion of pipelines and increased tanker traffic through the Burrard Inlet and the Salish Sea. The nation is actively opposing Kinder Morgan’s proposal which would see the transport of crude oil along its Trans Mountain pipeline expanded from its present level of 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 barrels per day. It would also result in more than 400 oil tankers entering Burrard Inlet each year.