The company building a 670-kilometre natural gas pipeline has reached out to the hereditary chiefs of the Wet'suwet'en in attempt to avoid conflict at a blockade near the Morice River Bridge.
In a statement issued Tuesday, Coastal GasLink said it has written to Chief Namox to set up a meeting to discuss the concerns Namox and the other hereditary chiefs have. On Jan. 3, the Wet'suet'en hereditary chiefs and members of the Unist'ot'en camp issued an "eviction notice" to workers at camp 9A and the surrounding area, located southwest of Houston, B.C.
"While Coastal GasLink is re-starting work generally across the right-of-way, we believe that dialogue is preferable to confrontation and will delay re-mobilization near Workforce Accommodation site 9A while engagement and a negotiated resolution remain possible," the company statement said. "Coastal GasLink has informed the Unist'ot'en that we will periodically need to visit sites in the around site 9A for safety and environmental reasons while the accommodation site remains unoccupied."
The company said it is hopeful the meeting can be arranged quickly and resolve the dispute.
On Dec. 31, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Marguerite Church granted Coastal GasLink an interlocutory injunction to access the area around the Morice River Bridge, located 47 km southwest of Houston. The bridge has been the site of an ongoing blockade by members of the Unist'ot'en camp. Church also issued an enforcement order, giving the RCMP the mandate to remove the blockade.
The $6.6 billion, 670-kilometre-long Coastal GasLink pipeline project would connect northeastern B.C. to the LNG Canada natural gas export terminal in Kitimat.
A request for comment from the Wet'suwet'en hereditary chiefs had not been returned as of press time.
Events in solidarity with the Wet'suwet'en are scheduled to take place in Victoria and Toronto on Tuesday, and in other locations including Smithers, Vancouver, Naniamo between Wednesday and Sunday.
