Ligne 9

Projet de transport pétrolier de la Ligne 9

Name of the project: Line 9

Name of the company: Enbridge

Exploited ressources and type of exploitation: ‘Diluted Bitumen’, also known as ‘DilBit’, which is extracted from the Tar Sands. DilBit contains more dangerous toxins than regular bitumen.

PORTRATE OF THE REGION

To which nation belongs the unceeded territory on which the project is being developped or which ancestral territories: Line 9 is a huge projects which cuts through numerous territories on its way from Montreal to Sarnia, passing within 50 km of 18 First Nations in total

Who lives on these territories: since the project is so large in scale, it affects both urban and rural areas inhabited by people of many different demographics.

How many people are being affected: it is estimated that 9.1 million people live in areas affected by Line 9, including the aforementioned 18 indigenous communities as well as 99 towns and cities

HISTORY AND CONTEXT

State of the project : The Line 9 pipeline was built in 1976. The company now known as Enbridge was then called Interprovincial Pipe Line Ltd.

  • September 2015 : Enbridge gets the go from the National Energey Board (NEB) to inverse the flux of oil from the 9B pipeline. The NEB declared that the canalisation could be put into service. Enbridge still doesn’t know at that point, when will the canalisation will begin to be used.
  • November 2015 : Inversion of the 9B pipeline. After many months of debate, the inversion between North Westover and Montreal is done.
  • March 2016 : The Supreme Court heres the appeal of the Anishnabe community in Ontario, First Nation Chippewas of the Thames, which demands de cancellation of the Enbridge pipeline project, affirming that the company didn’t consult their rights properly.

INTERNATIONAL LINKS?

Other proposed Enbridge projects include the Seaton Lands Development, the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories Chalk River Facilities Pipeline, the Fenelon Falls Pipeline Project, the Innes Road Pipeline, and the GTA project. Current well known Enbridge projects include the Northern Gateway Pipeline and the Line 3 Replacement Project. There are numerous other current Enbridge projects including wind, solar, natural gas, and geothermal projects as well as rail systems, storage facilities, and other infrastructure. A complete map of all Enbridge infrastructure in North America can be accessed here : http://www.enbridge.com/map#map:infrastructure

In which other countries does Enbridge operate? : in addition to North America, Enbridge also operates in United Kingdom, France, Colombia, Spain, Venezuela and Oman

IMPACTS OF THE EXTRACIVE PROJECTS

Impacts on health and environment

Environmental impacts: DilBit is highly explosive, contains heavy metals, is not biodegradable, and accumulates in the environment harming plants, people, animals, and water and soil systems. Since it’s construction, Line 9 has had almost one spill per year, some leaking thousands of litres into the environment.

Contamination: DilBit contains toxins such as benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and n-hexane, as well as heavy metals such as vanadium, nickel, and arsenic.

Impacts on health: the toxins in DilBit can cause severe damage to the human central nervous system, as well as neurological, respiratory, and gastrointestinal issues.

Economical impacts

  • Enbridge has over 11, 000 employees in total, who are represented at a union level by Unifor. Enbridge’s website states that the company has has a Diversity and Inclusion Steering Committee as well as numerous other employment equity policies, and encourages people to self-idenify as women, First Nations people, or people with disabilities, in their job applications. However, they do not offer statistics on the demographic makeup of their workforce. Enbridge also has an Indigenous Peoples Policy, which is described as ensuring mutually beneficial relationships with Indigenous peoples and communites affected by Enbridge projects through educational and training sponsorship programs, employment opportunities, and ‘capacity-building.’
  • Impact on the activites of the region: since the chemicals found in DilBit accumulate in the food chain, pollution from pipeline spills impacts traditional activities such as hunting and fishing by contaminating food sources, thus constituting violence against people’s culture and way of life.
  • Impact on food security: contamination of water, plants, and animals can harm food security by making subsistence farming, gathering, and hunting unsafe and unhealthy.

Social and Cultural impacts

  • Were there popular consultations for this project? While Enbridge claims to consult with Indigenous groups, numerous groups have asserted that changes and expansion of the Line 9 have failed to respect their rights, specifically in terms of lack of consultation. These challenges have come from Indigenous groups as well as urban organizations in areas affected. Enbridge states that consultations were held with land owners as well as municipal authorities, yet many people whose properties back onto Line 9 were reportedly not aware that the pipeline existed.
  • If so at which point in the project? Most consultations surrounding Line 9 happened at the stage during which the flow of the pipeline was reversed and its capacities expanded.
  • How were the consultations operated? In 2013, Enbridge held public hearings regarding reversal and expansion.
  • Information on criminalisation and repression : Protests against Line 9 have been met with repression from law enforcement. The Hamilton Police also receive funds from Enbridge.
  • Community life: Many communities in cities, neighborhoods, and First Nations affected by Line 9 have organized public demonstrations, direct actions, educational campaigns, and more, in opposition to Line 9.
  • Cultural impacts: between Hamilton and Ganonoque, Line 9 runs parallel to Lake Ontario

Specific impacts on women

  • What are the job possibilites for women : While Enbridge’s website states that they have equity hiring practices, they do not offer data on how many women are employed or whether they have a quota of jobs reserved for women.
  • Impacts on health : Since many of the toxins in DilBit are bio-accumulative, they pose especial risks to mothers as they accumulate in breast milk.

RESISTANCES

  • How do gorups organize? Groups organizing against Enbridge and Line 9 include No Line 9, Stop Line 9, Environmental Defense, Pipe Up Against Enbridge, Aamjiwnaang and Sarnia Against Pipelines (ASAP), Idle No More, Waterloo Region Against Line 9, 350.org, as well as groups from Six Nations and the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation, and many others
  • Are there protests? Actions? Opposition groups have engaged in public rallies, marches, petitions, lock-downs, and blockades
  • What legal steps have been taken? Anishnabe Community has engaged in appeal to the Supreme Court to stop the project The Chippewas of the Thames First Nation are currently appealing the National Energy Board’s approval of Line 9.
  • Results of the actions? These actions have created a widespread awareness of the issues surrounding Line 9
  • Place of women in the resistence? Women have been at the forefront of much of the resistance, including the lock down in Sarnia in 2015 in which 3 women temporarily stopped Line 9

TO KNOW MORE
http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/which-parts-of-toronto-are-being-put-at-risk-by-enbridges-line-9
http://line9communities.com/
http://www.nativeyouthsexualhealth.com/october182013.pdf
http://www.mediacoop.ca/story/chippewa-thames-first-nation-going-supreme-court-o/34497
http://rabble.ca/news/2013/01/mcethicaltm-enbridge-line-9-and-tar-sands-gigaproject
 http://www.stopline9-toronto.ca/index.php

Et ici, une BD sur l‘inversion de la ligne 9B ainsi que plus d’infos sur la ligne 9B et les mobilisations