Four Greenpeace activists are locked to the doors on the sixth floor in the Vancouver Enbridge offices on 505 Burrard St., and say they won't leave until Enbridge acknowledges their concerns relating to the 1,200 kilometre Northern Gateway pipeline project that is just entering the environmental assessment stage.
"They aren't listening to 80 per cent of British Columbians who support the ban on oil tanker traffic or coastal First Nations who have banned oil tankers from their territories," Stephanie Goodwin, B.C. Greenpeace director, said from a barricaded truck on the sidewalk, which she says is hot but comfortable.
Over the truck is an Enbridge pipeline shaped like a horizontal L, spewing molasses and water onto a cloth photo of a pristine landscape.
"Peaceful civil disobedience is a part of any healthy democratic process. We're willing to risk arrest in order for Enbridge to hear the message loud and clear," Goodwin said.
Meanwhile, a security guard in the lobby of 505 Burrard St. wouldn't let the Tyee inside to report on the demonstration happening upstairs. According to Goodwin, the four activists have written on doors using Gulf tar-balls: "B.C. Next."
The protest comes during a busy week for the oil industry and its detractors, with Greenpeace UK shutting down BP gas stations around London yesterday, and a massive Enbridge pipeline leak on Monday, which spilled three million litres of oil into a creek near Lake Michigan.
Josh Massey is completing his practicum at The Tyee.
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P. Markunas
1 year ago
@Slug Writer
No storming happened. I accept MSM reports on "peaceful civil disobedience" will sometimes be warped by an impulse to mischaracterize events for the purpose of provoking a broad perception of conflict independent of an understanding of the disputed issue [and yes, at times for more sinister purposes]. Please resist that impulse here.