We have been transporting hazardous and deliterious materials in practically the same manner for the past 200 years. Whether shipped by pipeline, ships, trains or trucks, these hazardous goods pose a real danger to communities and to the environment. One need only to look at the devastation in Lac Megantic, various oil and natural gas pipline ruptures and the Exxon Valdez catastrophe to realize that to continue to transport these flammables, explosives, radioactive goods, etc. cannot continue as it has. Isn't it time we brought transportation up to the 21st century? Can we not find a cost effective, safe and environmentally-sound way to render these goods inert during transport so communities don't have to worry about being flattened or the environment ruined?
For example why can't bitumen be flash frozen into an efficient cargo shape, rather than pumped through a pipeline such as Enbridge is proposing? If this frozen bitumen is spilled, it would be as a semi solid lump that could be cleaned up easily without contaminating soil or water systems. At the Tar Sands, they burn off gasses that I'm sure could be used to generate power to run a refrigeration plant on an enormous scale. I know there are chemical limitations that make flash freezing of bitumen difficult and initially expensive, but not impossible if we want to. With the Enbridge project-they have to build two pipelines.One to ship the bitumen to the coast and another to ship diluting chemicals back to Alberta to thin the bitumen so it will flow in the first pipeline. So now we have to worry about two different kinds of spills. Isn't that expensive? The oil and transportation companies will cry affordability, but how much is one salmon run worth? How much has it cost to clean up the Exxon Valdez spill? How much will another Lac Megantic or a possible future Prince George disaster cost? There has to be a better way than what we've been doing since even before the Industrial Revolution and Canada can lead the way or choose the status quo.
Bill Thompson
Prince George
