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Threat of oil spill real

It is sheer, short-sighted, selfish stupidity to allow oil tankers to carry crude thick oil along our coast.

Dear editor,

Having recently witnessed the magnificence of the herring return through Lambert Channel, I feel compelled to speak out about the wonder and beauty of this place we call home.

The herring run seemed plentiful this year, filling the bellies of sea lions, eagles, orcas and  fishers. This yearly migration is as crucial to the life in Georgia Strait as the wildebeest is to the Serengeti savannah.

I have to ask, how is it possible that we would consider risking all this for the sake of a few billion (or even a gazillion) dollars? It is sheer, short-sighted, selfish stupidity to allow oil tankers to carry crude thick oil along our coast.

As Nathan Cullen, MP for Skeena–Buckley Valley, told us last week, the threat is real. The risk of an oil spill is calculated at nine to 14 per cent, whatever that means, and we haven’t got a clue how to go about cleaning the stuff up.

The message we hear in the propaganda from Enbridge is that the pipeline/tankers is an inevitable deal. Don’t believe it.

We now know, “It is not inevitable: It is an opportunity disguised as a crisis.”

Thank you, MP Nathan Cullen, for your message. Now it is our time to stand up and defend our coast.

Sally Gellard,

Merville