Rapport de polaris institute sur Enbridge

Polaris Institute statement regarding Enbrige's Michigan oil spill

Posted: July 28, 2010
source info web : http://www.polarisinstitute.org/corporate_profile_of_enbridge_inc

The news of an Enbridge pipeline spilling 20,000 barrels (3 million litres) of crude oil from the Alberta tar sands into a tributary of Lake Michigan is disturbing, but sadly not surprising.

Enbridge has a questionable track record across Canada and United States of recurring pipeline leaks that have caused serious environmental damage and harm to workers. Between 1999 and 2008, across all of Enbridge’s operations there were 610 spills that released close to 132,000 barrels (21 million litres) of hydrocarbons into the environment. This amounts to approximately half of the oil that spilled from the Exxon Valdez after it struck a rock in Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1988.

The recent spill in Michigan is the largest spill to occur on an Enbridge pipeline in the United States in the last ten years. Enbridge’s largest spill in Canada in the same time period occurred in Alberta in 2001 when 23,900 barrels (3.8 million litres) spilled into the environment.

The Michigan spill should be wake-up call for those who would allow Enbridge to build two 1,1 70 kilometer pipelines from the Alberta tar sands to the B.C. coast. The question is not ‘if’ a catastrophic spill will occur on this route, but ‘when’.

Corporate Profile of Enbridge Inc.

Posted May 4th, 2010 by richard

New Report Exposes Enbridge Inc’s Destructive Gamble on Eve of Annual Meeting of Shareholders

READ IT HERE
*correction: on page 56 at the bottom 'Line Part 6a' should read 'Part 6b'
OTTAWA, ON – In advance of Enbridge Inc.’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders scheduled for Wednesday, May 5th, the Polaris Institute and the Indigenous Environmental Network are releasing a new corporate profile of the company. In the profile, Enbridge Inc’s dirty tar sands gamble is exposed as potentially dangerous in terms of its impacts on the environment and First Nations communities.

The new 69 page profile, Out on the Tar Sands Mainline: Mapping Enbridge’s Web of Pipelines, raises serious questions about the company’s role in relation to the tar sands industry, and especially its future plans to open up Asian markets for dirty tar sands crude via the controversial Gateway pipeline. The profile explores the social costs of this game plan on First Nations communities and the environment and how, based on its track record, Enbridge will use its political clout, revolving door mechanisms and strategic donations to First Nations communities to carry its plans forward.

“For some, Enbridge Inc. is viewed as a provider of natural gas to heat homes and businesses, and to many this company is completely unknown” explains Richard Girard, Research Coordinator of the Polaris Institute. “However, this new company profile clearly shows that below the surface Enbridge Inc. has been, and continues to be, one of the key facilitators of the growth of the entire tar sands industry.”

The profile includes specific details on: - recurring pipeline leaks that have caused environmental damage; - the ongoing expropriation of First Nations land; - widespread political lobbying and influence in Canada and the United States; - interference in local community decision-making through financial contributions and projects.

“Given Enbridge’s track record, it is not a matter of if an oil leak on First Nations land will occur, but rather when it will happen again,” states Marty Cobenais, of the Indigenous Environmental Network.

Access the report here: http://www.tarsandswatch.org/files/EnbridgeProfile.pdf

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For more information or to arrange interviews contact: Richard Girard, Polaris Institute, 613-237-1717 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 613-237-1717 end_of_the_skype_highlighting begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 613-237-1717 end_of_the_skype_highlighting x105, Richard@polarisinstitute.org

Marty Cobenais, Indigenous Environmental Network, 218-760-0284, martyc@ienearth.org

About the Polaris Institute (www.tarsandswatch.org): The Polaris Institute is a non-partisan organization engaged in research and advocacy on public policy issues.

About the Indigenous Environmental Network (www.ienearth.org): IEN is a network of Indigenous Peoples empowering Indigenous Nations and communities towards sustainable livelihoods, demanding environmental justice and maintaining the Sacred Fire of our traditions.