It’s been a year since the Enbridge natural gas pipeline explosion near Prince George and the Lheidli T’enneh are still looking for some answers about the incident.
The explosion occurred within a stone’s throw of the Shelley reserve and prompted an evacuation of some homes.
On February 27, the Lheidli T’enneh launched a lawsuit against Enbridge (Westcoast Energy Inc) claiming wholly inadequate communications and emergency response on the part of Enbridge following the explosion.
“Sadly, Lheidli T’enneh is no closer to any resolution or answers post explosion,” said Malcolm Macpherson, legal counsel for the Lheidli T’enneh in the lawsuit. “The community remains deeply traumatized by the explosion, and for good reason. Enbridge claims to operate world class pipelines and emergency response systems, but Lheidli T’enneh has seen no evidence of this claim to date. Further, Canada’s Transportation Safety Board continues to fail to provide Lheidli T’enneh with assurances of safety and the integrity of the Enbridge pipeline system following the explosion.
“To make matters worse, on August 1 of this year, an Enbridge pipeline explosion killed a woman near Danville, Kentucky, and sent at least five people to the hospital. This explosion was the second so far this year on the Texas Eastern system following an explosion in Ohio in January that injured at least two people. Enbridge pipeline explosions are occurring too frequently and are causing death. How many more deaths, injuries and trauma will it take for Canada to properly regulate pipelines?”