After a year of waiting for my time slot - I went in front of the National Energy Board today and imparted my views on why they should recommend that there should be no "Enbridge Northern Gateway Project." I have thought long and hard on what I was going to tell them and then it came to me, what would I personally lose if this project was given a go ahead - I personally wouldn't lose much except for the "safety factor" in continued cruising mid Coast. But, a big "But" - my next two generations would never have the opportunity to see all that I have seen. A cut an paste version of my speech is below here. I am but one small voice, but together with all the other voices, perhaps, it will all make a difference.
“Ode to Mr. Keaton”
Good afternoon - My name is Betty Davison, first generation
Canadian since 1963. I am a mother,
grandmother, wife, daughter, aunt, sister, daughter-in-law and cousin to
many. In 1963 my parents chose Canada to
emigrate from Europe for a better quality of life for their family, they packed
up their growing family of 5 and moved to Vancouver. My parents had chosen
wisely!
We have been fortunate in that our parents had made sure
that we were exposed to “Beautiful Super Natural” throughout our
upbringing. We have travelled areas of
this beautiful province - from West Coast Vancouver Island to Prince Rupert to
the Kootenays. We left no map unwrinkled
in our quest to visit all corners of BC to see what these areas were all about
and what they had to offer. Summer after Summer, with Five children, two
adults, the family dog and a friend or two packed in a station wagon piled high
with tents, sleeping bags, and coolers –
our family traversed the province. This most basic North American rite has now been
passed down to us from our parents albeit with a marine twist. For the past 38
years, my husband and son have enjoyed travelling the BC Coast via pleasure boat
and camping. We have spent the last
10-15 years of our “boating” life travelling extensively throughout the inside
passage also known as the Northern Marine Highway, with the same curiosity about
what was around that next corner that our parents instilled in us. We have lived with the motto – “Take nothing
but photographs, and leave nothing but footprints.”
To date, with my own family in our boat, we have logged over
3000 hours on the sea or approximately 30,000 miles including 10-15 years
traversing the inside passage. We have
spent much time in places such as Bella Bella, Hartley Bay, Kitimat, Klemtu and
Prince Rupert, we have enjoyed every single minute of what we have seen and
experienced. We have made many new
friends along our travels and have seen and experienced Nature in all of its
splendor and glory, including nursing Grizzly bears, a chance encounter with a
Kermode or Spirit Bear, and we have seen and heard the majestic coastal wolves,
Breaching humpback whales, feeding groups of orca, pod of grey whales, sea
lions, pilot whales, dolphins, and myriad of sea-birds including tufted puffins.
We have been able to watch all forms of intricate sea life on our shores,we
have seen native middens and clam gardens, we have seen jaw dropping gorgeous old
growth forests and many more wonderful on our BC Coast. What a blessed person I have been! All of these wondrous sites and experiences
have prompted me to come before you today to express a definitive “no” to the
Enbridge project.
Our son (who is now also owns his own boat) has recently
blessed us with a grandson, who is now 3 months old, we affectionately call him
Mr. Keaton. We would very much for Mr. Keaton to experience all that we have been
lucky to experience. It is his inherent right,
as it is ours! The mere thought of
running into tankers on one of these narrow channels or a possible bitumen
spill frightens the heck out of us, and it also tromps on my (our) right to the
enjoyment of life in Coastal British Columbia.
We have 37 years of experience on the water more
specifically the ocean. We are prudent, knowledgeable boaters and have come to
know and respect both the weather and ocean on our Coast and more specifically on
the inside passage. Our travels have taken us to Prince Rupert many times,
Kitimat and the Gardener Canal, Banks Island, Aristabel and many a trip circumnavigating
of Princess Royale Island ( in search of the Kermode Bear.) These are some of the same waterways that the
supertankers will have to traverse if the Enbridge project goes ahead. These
waterways can be both beautiful and treacherous at the same time dependent on
weather, even for small boats like ours (a mere 20 ton). What will they be like
for a 140,000 ton super tankers? We at
least have the luxury of dropping anchor in a protected bay and waiting out
weather, not so for the tankers.
What will the conditions be like in the waterways such as
Wright Sound, Whale or Douglas channel in “storm force winds” (48-63 knot
winds) coupled with opposing tides (tide changes occur four times a day) and
with Prince Rupert having tide swings of 20-25 feet in the summer the rush of
water in and out of these narrow channels is great in the summer. Even with
using two tugs to guide these behemouth tankers out to open waters it will a
challenge to all concerned. The channels leaving Kitimat or Prince Rupert hold
uncharted rocks, shallow areas, wind action called “outflow” winds (headland
winds channeled out through these narrow inlets) All of this occurs on the
proposed bituman tanker route.
As of late, we have also come to worry about Tsunami’s, as
the seismic activity in our area have become increasingly active, wouldn’t a
Tsunami play havoc on the proposed bitumen tanker traffic in any of the proposed
traffic channels but also the head of Douglas Channel and any shore activity
such as pipelines/holding tanks for the bituman etc. We all watched with horror what happened with
the Japanese Tsunami 2 years ago. Seismologists
keep hammering home to the BC public that the “Big One” is coming. Most people think of the havoc caused by a
large earthquakes as large land based
disasters, Tsunamis can cause just as much havoc on marine areas, traffic and
foreshore based structures (just view our coastal beaches in the upcoming
couples of years for the Japanese marine flotsam and jetsom due in from their
Tsunami). Natural events such as strong
winds, strong currents, storms, fog and tsunamis are but a few natural marine
obstacles that marine traffic must be wary of. Recently (within the last 2
months) the news of two container ship accidents involving ships in the Prince Rupert area have
become public, one of the larger container ships had a grounding on a sandbar due
to avoidance of a fishing vessel. What
are the consequence of such a grounding if it were a 140 k ton vessel fully
loaded with bitumen? If any one of these things I have just mentioned were to
occur to the proposed Enbridge Tankers and shore based structures, the results
could be catastrophic to our coastline and the lives of people in and around
the inside passage.
I have much empathy for the indigenous Population on our
coast as I too do not want a pipeline in my backyard or a super tanker going by
my house every day, or having to live with the fear of potential contamination
of my food and water source and my way of life disrupted or destroyed due to
situations beyond my control. On a more
selfish and minute basis, I have empathy for my next two generations, my son
and my grandson, on all that will be lost to them in this most beautiful part
of British Columbia should the Enbridge project be allowed to proceed. The
imminent threat of disaster and the increased traffic by the “Super Tankers”
will disrupt not only the ecological life on our coast but the people that
live, work or visit the area. Will my
offspring and their offspring be able to see nursing grizzly bears on the
shore, or the elusive Kermode Bear on Princess Royal Island feeding on a
shoreline or watch whales bubble feeding in Mackay reach, or watch the ocean
shine silver with a boiling herring ball?
Current marine traffic, such as work boats (Crabbers/Fish
Boats/Prawning Vessels/Dive vessels for scallops/geoducks etc), employees and
suppliers of fish farms all use the inside passage year round to earn their
living off of the sea. Mid Coast tourism
brings Cruise Ships and cruising boaters such as ourselves to the inside
passage from May to October. Tanker
Traffic from the LPG plant in Kitimat will already be traversing our waters by
the time tankers carrying bitumen from Enbridge would start plying these same
waters. The sheer increased amount of
traffic in these narrow inlets by “super” tankers are of great concern to those
of us that have rights on these same waterways.
Stopping distances for the proposed tankers in some of the smaller channels
and waterways will be a challenge – even at slow speeds, it could take up to a
mile for these super tankers to stop. I
liken a chance encounter on the sea on our size boat with a super tanker to an 18
wheel Semi truck passing a bicycle on the highway – The truck probably would
not hit the bicycle but the consequence to the cyclist could be very
unpleasant.
You have heard from many qualified biologists and other
scientists on the effects of tanker traffic on marine life such as whales,
dolphins, seabirds on the inside passage, but what of the shore effects. The effects of Tanker “wake” (propeller wash
given off by large boats/Tugs causing large waves) on the inside passage and
the erosion it causes due to the large waves, outside of normal tide
action, will also affect the coastal
wildlife, like that of the bear and other
animals who feed in the tidal zones and shores of our coast? Erosion is the effect that will be noticeable
over time, a bitumen spill would have immediate devastating effects on our
whole coastal area! If the tugs and
Tanker are travelling at any speed, erosion will be the furthest thing from my
mind, as our boat gets tossed and tipped and perhaps thrown in areas we do not
wish to visit. (like the shore or other marine hazards)
In closing, my rights and the rights of those that cannot speak, are
being trampled by the imminent threat of the Enbridge proposal. Please add my resounding “no” to those
opposed to the Enbridge pipeline and proposed tanker shipping of Bitumen
through our coast, for my family, for my grandson Mr. Keaton and for the bent ear Kermode
Bear I have come to see. So that they may continue to have the quality of
life and enjoyment on the inside passage that we have come to know.
Respectfully submitted!
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