Call for Indigenous-Led Probe into Trans Mountain – The Energy Mix
After a history of 85 spills along the 67-year-old Trans Mountain pipeline, the federal and British Columbia governments must launch an “independent, Indigenous-led expert investigation” into the line’s safety and integrity, a group of Indigenous leaders and environmental groups say in a release issued yesterday by Stand.Earth.
The groups are also calling for a moratorium on construction of the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline, following a 190,000-litre oil spill at the Sumas pump station in Abbotsford, BC over the weekend.
“This is the fourth time in 15 years that the existing Trans Mountain pipeline has had an oil spill on our land,” said Sumas First Nation Chief Dalton Silver. “Without an independent, transparent, and scientific investigation into the safety of this old pipeline, we have no confidence in Trans Mountain’s ability to build the new pipeline without inflicting more damage to our territory.”