On Wed. May 23 a number of local people will car-pool to London (leaving Waterloo at 7:30 am) to protest National Energy Board hearings on Enbridge’s request to reverse the flow of oil in its “Line 9” pipeline across southern Ontario. The pipeline, which now carries imported crude from the port of Montreal to Sarnia to be refined, would start to carry bitumen from the tar sands to Montreal, and ports farther east, to be exported.
This pipeline crosses Waterloo Region, crossing the 401 near Ayr and the Grand River nearby, and passing very close to Cambridge’s southeastern limits. It also, of course, crosses Six Nations territory.
Read more below about the Line 9 pipeline, and how to join the protest.
Enbridge “Line 9”: The Tar Sands come to Ontario
http://rabble.ca/news/2013/05/other-enbridge-pipeline-ontarios-line-9-project
https://www.facebook.com/events/348734795189701/
Wednesday May 23:
Join us at a regional convergence against Enbridge, the National Energy Board, and tar sands expansion
Enbridge is being granted a fast-tracked review for their line 9 tar sands pipeline reversal through Ontario. Official hearings begin in London, Ontario on May 23rd.
Let’s fight back!
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9:30 am –
Gather near London City Hall (300 Dufferin Avenue – see map: http://tinyurl.com/cp4cgsl)
Meet up before a march to the National Energy Board (NEB) hearing to oppose an expansion of the tar sands pipeline network.
10:15 am –
Rally at the NEB hearing at the Hilton London Hotel (300 King Street – see map: http://tinyurl.com/7ty76zz)
We are opposing the NEB hearing — which is biased in favour of Enbridge, and against Six Nations. The march will arrive before the hearing is scheduled to begin.
1pm –
The rally will be followed by an unofficial People’s Hearing on the Tar Sands Pipeline: http://peopleshearing2012.wordpress.com/
THE ENBRIDGE PIPELINE
The proposal from Enbridge Inc. is to reverse the flow direction of the existing Line 9, from Sarnia toward Hamilton and the Toronto area (map: http://tinyurl.com/6suulf4). This eastward flow will enable more tar sands oil to enter Ontario. Enbridge is likely to use this reversal to export oil from the east coast, as in the Trailbreaker Proposal (map: http://tinyurl.com/7axf4cm).
The pipeline crosses multiple waterways, including the Grand River which flows through Six Nations territory, and the Thames river, through London, Ontario. The Great Lakes are downstream.
Line 9 was built in 1975. Corrosive tar sands and increased flow pressure would increase the risk of a disastrous breach. A similar Enbridge pipeline ruptured along the way to Sarnia in 2010, spoiling 40 kilometers of the Kalamazoo River in Michigan.
NATIVE RIGHTS
Enbridge and the NEB are not seeking consent from any of the Indigenous Peoples who may be impacted by this project.
This project violates a series of treaties and agreements: Nanfan treaty, Two-Row Wampum, Great Peace of Montreal treaty, Haldimand Proclamation, section 35 of the Constitution Act, and the UN Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The line 9 reversal will cross land granted to the Six Nations in the Haldimand Proclamation (map: http://tinyurl.com/82zccke). Six Nations people have ongoing concerns about pipeline rupture which would seriously affect the land, water and culture. In particular, the community of Ohsweken is immediately downstream of the Line 9 crossing. Ohsweken’s water supply is the Grand River.
THE NEB HEARING
The NEB hearing has been fast-tracked, without allowing for adequate participation; the process is inaccessible for the general public; and the federal government can completely overrule its decision. To add insult, the official hearing does not consider the impact of tar sands extraction. Therefore, any NEB decision will be undemocratic and illegitimate.
This project should not be approved without free, prior, and informed consent.
FURTHER INFORMATION
https://www.facebook.com/PeopleVersusLine9
http://peopleshearing2012.wordpress.com/line9/
Contact: Paisley Cozzarin at WPIRG <paisleycozzarin@gmail.com>
or Toban Black in London: toban@riseup.net