The PIPE UP Network is made up of residents of Southwestern BC who have come together because of our concerns about the safety, environmental, and economic implications of shipping tar sands along the Trans Mountain Pipeline, which runs from Edmonton AB to Burnaby BC.
PIPE UP Members are dedicated to empowering themselves and their communities with the knowledge needed to stop the proposed Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, and to work towards a just transition to a fossil fuel free future, in collaboration with Indigenous Peoples.
THE BOARD
Michael Hale
All board interviews were created by Scott Jacobsen, a PIPE UP volunteer.
Our research has led us to conclude that tar sands shipments represent an unacceptable risk to local residents along the pipeline route and net financial costs to all Canadians. Shipping raw tar sands bitumen to Pacific Rim markets is, in essence, exporting jobs. While losing thousands of jobs, net gain in employment in BC as a result of expansion of the pipeline, after construction, would be tens of jobs. However, that is not all: As Economist Robyn Allan’s analysis has shown, selling raw tar sands in foreign markets – in addition to increasing Canada’s carbon footprint – will also increase the price of petroleum for Canadians. Although the PIPE-UP Network believes that we need to end our dependency on fossil fuels, we support a just transition with investments in renewable energy sources that makes the shift affordable for all people.
The largest tar sand spill to date occurred in Marshall, Michigan on July 23, 2010. Toxic gasses escaped into the atmosphere and the heavy bitumen sank to the bottom of the Kalamazoo River causing authorities to close a 35-mile portion of the river. The total cost of the clean-up is approximately $800 billion. The disaster depressed the local economy, fishing, tourism and real estate. Sixty percent of residents suffered health problems. In July, 2012, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board report found that the spill was the result of “pervasive organizational failures” by the pipeline operator, Enbridge. The NTSB also blamed the accident on “weak federal regulations” by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration for the accident. This should give Canadians pause after the weakening of regulatory and environmental legislation (in omnibus Bill C-38) by the Harper government in 2012.
Given the track record of Kinder Morgan (and its industry), we believe that the Trans Mountain pipeline may be another Kalamazoo waiting to happen.