Report says BC should ban oil tanker traffic, reject pipeline<\/strong><\/p>\n The National Resources Defense Council, the Pembina Institute, and the Living Oceans Society recently released a report arguing that bitumen (crude oil) from Alberta\u2019s oil sands can\u2019t safely be transported across British Columbia. The report calls for federal and provincial governments to reject the proposed pipeline and to permanently ban oil tanker traffic on BC\u2019s north coast.<\/p>\n Reaction to pipeline report<\/strong><\/p>\n According to Nathan Lempers of the Pembina Institute, the Northern Gateway pipeline project doesn\u2019t plan for all eventualities\u2014such as the impact on the pipeline of possible catastrophic events like earthquakes and landslides\u2014and that they aren\u2019t prepared for a worst-case scenario, creating an unacceptable level of risk for British Columbians. Paul Stanway, communications manager for Northern Gateway, countered the report by accusing the groups of \u201craising unreasonable fears\u201d and setting \u201czero-risk targets that no pipeline project could ever reach.\u201d Stanway also countered the argument that bitumen is more dangerous to ship because it\u2019s corrosive, claiming in a recent press release \u201cnobody has been able to identify any additional risk or hazard involved with transporting oil sands crude.\u201d<\/p>\n Timberwest buying logs from endangered forest<\/strong><\/p>\n The Wilderness Committee learned recently during a BC Supreme Court hearing that Timberwest has contracted to purchase logs from the Snaw-Naw-As Forest Services Ltd\u2019s proposed logging of DL33\u2014a red-listed Coastal Douglas-Fir forest. The Committee has joined with a number of groups including the Association of Vancouver Island and Coastal Communities to demand that Timberwest immediately halt the logging of DL33, citing that logging the area goes directly against both Timberwest\u2019s and the Sustainable Forest Industry\u2019s policy regarding environmental protection.<\/p>\n Communities back BC pesticide ban<\/strong><\/p>\n Thirty BC municipalities are now supporting a BC-wide ban on lawn and garden pesticides. According to a list released by the Canadian Cancer Society, the municipalities have passed motions to support the ban. These 30 communities encompass more than 1.8 million British Columbians. Gideon Forman, executive director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, says the proposed pesticide ban has huge momentum. \u201cIt is a significant issue when 30 communities across the province are pressuring the government to take action,\u201d said Forman in a recent press release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Report says BC should ban oil tanker traffic, reject pipeline The National Resources Defense Council, the Pembina Institute, and the Living Oceans Society recently released a report arguing that bitumen (crude oil) from Alberta\u2019s oil sands can\u2019t safely be transported across British Columbia. The report calls for federal and provincial governments to reject the proposed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-december-7-2011"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t