Dear Rt. Hon. Prime Minister Trudeau
The Lake Talon Conservation Association (LTCA) is a longstanding grassroots, lake-wide conservation organization responsible for the protection of the natural, cultural and recreational values of the Lake Talon area, which is part of the historic Mattawa River canoe route and the Mattawa Provincial Park. LTCA works closely in partnership with our neighbouring First Nations friends to maintain this pristine and beautiful environment which has been an integral part of traditional First Nations transportation routes for thousands of years.
Historically, this Waterway System has also been used for hundreds of years by Canada’s founding explorers. In 1610, Brule, and in 1615, Champlain were the first Europeans to travel the river. For some 200 years thereafter, it formed part of the important water route leading from Montreal to the West. It was the primary access route to the vast Canadian interior.
Other historical and notable travelers on the Mattawa River System included Jean Nicolet in 1620, Jean de Brebeuf in 1626, Radisson and des Grosseilliers in 1658, LaVerendrye in 1731, MacKenzie in 1794, and David Thompson in 1812.
Almost the entire length of the Mattawa River Waterway system was protected as a provincial park in 1970 and has been designated as a Canadian Heritage River by the Federal Government in January 1988. The Mattawa River Waterway System is clearly not just another river.
At our recent Annual General Meeting, the LTCA membership voted to strongly oppose Trans Canada's proposed Energy East Pipeline, for the following reasons:
- This 25-year-old 42” natural gas pipeline, built with numerous design flaws such as inadequate fittings and elbows, was not engineered to carry diluted bitumen, which is much heavier and more corrosive than natural gas.
- A rupture in this line (and there has been a number of them in its 25-year-old history), would result in long-lasting contamination of the rivers, lakes, and waterways in this wonderful waterways system, by dumping bitumen, mixed with a vast array of toxic chemicals, into the waterways.
- This bitumen pipeline would be a severe risk to not only our local drinking water on Lake Talon but also to the City of North Bay’s drinking water which is drawn from Trout Lake which itself is an integral part of the Mattawa River Waterway system. Further, much of the Nation’s drinking water from Alberta to the East Coast would be threatened by this line as well as the destruction of fish and wildlife habitat in its vicinity.
- The proposed operation of this bitumen pipeline would result in continued and vastly increased destruction of the environment on lands and rivers all the way to the East Coast of Canada. Much of this affected environment is the home of indigenous people, whose health, livelihood and very existence is severely threatened by the devastation of the land and water caused by extraction and transportation of bitumen from the Oil Sands.
Further, LTCA is very concerned about the near impossibility of cleaning up a spill of bitumen which sinks to the bottom of lakes and rivers. This bitumen would be dispersed by currents and wave action in summer and would be virtually impossible to find, let alone clean up under the ice during winter and to access during fall freeze-up and spring break-up.
Added to this concern is TransCanada Pipeline’s track record of failing to discover numerous past leaks in their pipelines as many such leaks have been discovered by farmers, or people passing by, days after the rupture.
Most critically, conversion of the Energy East Pipeline will commit Canada to the long-term extraction of bitumen with its dire environmental results, for many years into the future. This action would ensure that Canada does not come close to achieving the Climate Change targets committed to by your Government in Paris. This would also ensure that little public money would be committed to Green Energy production.
Prime Minister Trudeau, in your instructions to Mr. Carr, Minister of Natural Resources very early on in your mandate you directed that he along with his colleagues must “modernize the National Energy Board” (NEB) with the view of achieving certain desirable objectives in the public interest. Further, you instructed the Minister of Natural Resources and his staff to work professionally and that decisions be made in the “public interest”. LTCA heartily supports your instructions – they are very clear.
The Energy East proposal hopefully will be scrutinized thoroughly by a revitalized NEB which must be made up of independent Hearing Officers who have the environmental, technical and financial expertise to carefully examine all facets of Energy East including pipeline technical standards, emergency response capacities, and routes.
The NEB must ensure that both the Proponents and Opponents of Energy East are given a fair and impartial public hearing. The NEB as it is currently constituted does not appear to meet these criteria. A new and revitalized NEB must operate solely in the “public interest”.
Prime Minister Trudeau, LTCA believes in the light of the facts as outlined and the high risks associated with the Energy East proposal that it is clearly not required in the public interest.
We ask that your Government, once the revitalized NEB completes its process, consider standing firmly against the conversion of this pipeline. The risks associated with Energy East are simply too high. This can be the only conclusion.
LTCA does, however, encourage your government to take immediate steps to encourage the Canadian economy to use our technological expertise and grassroots support to shift in a major way to green, renewable energy.
Please help us to protect our water, the sustainer of all life.
We thank you for hearing our concerns.
Yours very sincerely,
John Kelsall Sr.,
President
LTCA
