Canada NEB recommends tar sands pipeline, threatening Salish Sea, First Nations people, and orca survival

February 22, 2019

WASHINGTON — The Canadian National Energy Board announced its recommendation today that the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project should move forward, despite widespread opposition. The NEB’s recommendation comes after the Canadian federal government and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau purchased the pipeline from Kinder Morgan in May 2018 in an attempt to guarantee its construction. In August 2018 a Canadian federal appeals court ruled that the project would need a far more extensive environmental review and First Nations consultation before it could move forward. Despite a second “process” the NEB has made the same decision – to recommend approval of the pipeline expansion.

Marcie Keever, Friends of the Earth US’s oceans and vessels program director, issued the following statement in response:

Once again, Canada’s NEB has sided with short-term Big Oil profits instead of the long-term health of the Pacific Northwest’s people, climate and orcas. The Trans Mountain pipeline expansion threatens the Salish Sea and its marine species, as well as the lives and livelihoods of the area’s 8 million people, including 29 Tribes and First Nations.

Shame on Prime Minister Trudeau, his government, and the National Energy Board of Canada for ignoring widespread opposition and serious concerns in favor of this destructive pipeline. Canada’s decision will likely bring about the extinction of the Northwest’s iconic killer whales and drive us further towards the brink of climate chaos.

Contact: Erin Jensen, (727) 504-7163, [email protected]