Two big players in the Northern Gateway pipeline debate took to Twitter on Thursday afternoon trying to make their case about the dangers presented to tanker traffic off the west coast.
The person behind the official Northern Gateway Twitter account sparred with the official Raincoast Conservation Foundation tweeter over the nature of the Hecate Strait between Haida Gwaii and the British Columbia coast. The risks posed by tanker traffic are one of the biggest concerns environmental groups have about the $6.5 billion project.
"And therein lies the problem - Hecate strait is in fact unique. Your spin claims otherwise but #Enbridge doesn't live here," Raincoast wrote to Northern Gateway on the social network starting a flurry of tweets between the environmental group and the pipeline company over the plan to build a pipeline from Alberta to Kitimat and ship diluted bitumen to Asia and other markets.
"How do current industrial vessels uniquely manage Hecate Straight weather conditions?," Northern Gateway replied, citing figures showing its tanker traffic wouldn't significantly add to the ships traversing the channel.
"Well, some of them sink and run aground. Enviro Canada calls it '4th most dangerous body of water in the world,' " Raincoast quickly shot back.
Raincoast declined Northern Gateway's offer to help the environmental group better understand the company's strategies to make for safe passage.
"Thanks but no thanks. We've done transects of 11,000 nautical miles in Hecate Strait & know the risks. You haven't," Raincoast wrote.
Northern Gateway concluded the dust up by pointing to the National Energy Board hearings in Prince Rupert which will look at the shipping and navigation aspects of the proposal, likely in February or March.
"Looking forward to evidence being tested at the JRP next year... thanks for the conversation," Northern Gateway wrote.
