More than 300 people from across the province gathered in Fredericton on Monday night to discuss the environmental impact of TransCanada’s proposed Energy East Pipeline.
TransCanada says the pipeline will create 14,000 direct and indirect jobs across Canada, but Council of Canadians Chairperson Maude Barlow said this won’t benefit New Brunswickers in the long run. According to her, most of the jobs will be on the Alberta oil sands.
She said most of the jobs will be on the Alberta oil sands, and a 40 per cent increase in tar sands production would “send even more New Brunswick young people out west.”
She acknowledges that people need jobs, but they also need to know the facts.
“The only side of the story [the people] have heard so far has been through TransCanada,” she said. “They have to hear a different side of the story, so that’s what we’re doing here.”
The Energy East Pipeline would transport Bitumen, a close relative of crude oil, from the Alberta tar sands to refineries in Quebec and New Brusnwick. The 4,600 kilometre-long pipeline would transport 1.1 million litres of diluted bitumen per day.
Environmentalists are concerned because previous bitumen spills in the United States have destroyed ecosystems in the surrounding areas.
Bitumen is very thick, so it is diluted with chemicals to liquefy it for transportation through the pipeline. If a spill occurs, these poisonous chemicals could pollute the environment and even drinking water.
Matthew Abbot, Fundy Baykeeper for the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, says Bitumen doesn’t behave like crude oil or natural gas – if it’s spilled in water, it sinks to the bottom and forms tar balls making clean up almost impossible.
Environmental concerns aside, there is also controversy over how the pipeline will affect the provincial economy. Most of the oil refined in Saint John will be exported overseas.
Green Party leader David Coon says the construction of the pipeline would be a step in the wrong direction for our economy.
“We need to be building a new green economy in this province,” he said. “Not deepening our economic dependence on fossil fuel production.”
He also said building trades in this province need to be building nursing homes, not tar sands pipelines. But the building trades are confident the pipeline will leave a positive impact on New Brunswick.
Gary Ritchie, President of the New Brunswick Building and Construction Trades Council said he supports it because he thinks it will brings jobs to the province and strengthen the economy.
“Our members hunt, fish, and do everything everyone else does. China is going to get their oil one way or another. If they don’t get it from us, they’re going to get it from someone else,” he said.
The meeting was the fourth of five stops of the Council of Canadians’ “Energy East: Our Risk – Their Reward” Atlantic tour designed to raise awareness of the environmental risks of the pipeline. The tour will conclude tomorrow night with a final meeting in Edmundston.
Johnny Cullen 