Although the Kwispaa LNG terminal and Steelhead gas pipeline project is on “a timeout,” a public forum on “LNG, Fracking, and the Comox Valley Connection” is still a go for Wednesday, Feb. 27, 7 p.m. at the Florence Filberg Centre in Courtenay.
The event was born in response to the issues of fracking and LNG export in B.C. The proposed-and-not-yet-cancelled Kwispaa project has a local connection.
The terminal is proposed for Barkley Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island; the gas pipe would run from the Chetwynd area to Powell River, under the Salish Sea to Courtenay/Comox, and across the Island.
The five speakers from all over B.C. will be speaking to the broader context of the proposed BC LNG export industry, and importantly, the fracking operations that will need to expand to feed that industry.
· Bernadette and Keith Wyton from the Barkley Sound Alliance will give background on the Kwispaa project and speak to where it’s at now.
· Richard Wright, Wilps Luutkudziiwus spokesperson from Madii Lii Center in Gitxsan territory in northern B.C., will speak about the history and cumulative impacts of the oil and gas industry’s activities in northern B.C., and the Indigenous rights context of such projects.
· Micheal Sawyer, an environmental consultant who successfully appealed a decision of the NEB with respect to the Prince Rupert LNG pipeline, will speak to the greenhouse gas implications of the LNG industry and his current legal challenge to the Coastal GasLink pipeline, which is being contested by the Wet’suwet’en people and their allies.
· Damien Gillis, B.C. journalist, filmmaker, and co-director/co-producer of the documentary feature Fractured Land, will present video clips and speak to the impact of fracking on land and water.
This forum is open to all, first come first serve. Brought to you by the Watershed Sentinel magazine, Council of Canadians Comox Valley chapter, and the Glasswaters Foundation.
For more details click here or see the “LNG, Fracking, and the Comox Valley Connection” Facebook event page.