July 23 2008 | News Clippings | Terrace Standard
Marchers protest Shell drill plan
By Kat Lee - Terrace Standard
Published: July 22, 2008 11:00 PM
Organizers of July 15’s rally protesting Shell’s plans to drill for coalbed methane natural gas northeast of here say they’ll keep their efforts up until the company pulls out.
“I think [the rally] was an absolute success,” said co-organizer Julia Hill, adding that people have told her this is one of the biggest rallies of its kind the community has seen.
People came from Smithers, Kitimat, Prince Rupert and the Nass Valley to show support.
“We had loggers and hunters and business people....it was a huge diversity of people from different walks of life, which speaks to how contentious this issue is,” Hill said.
Between 250 and 300 people gathered first at George Little Park for speeches and then marched through the city and over the Sande Overpass to where Shell was having an open house at the Elks Hall.
Hill said rally organizers were trying to attract people to Shell’s open houses so people can learn about the project.
“It’s important for people to know both sides of the story,” she said.
At issue is Shell’s drilling plan for the Klappan, also called the Sacred Headwaters because it contains the headwaters of the Stikine, Nass and Skeena rivers.
The company started exploration by drilling three wells in 2004 in the area and wants to return this fall with plans to drill up to 14 more wells.
Opposition from some Tahltan who don’t want industrial activity on their traditional territory and last year’s flood destroying the access road has slowed progress since then.
Those Tahltan have now been joined by environmental groups and individuals from the northwest worried about the effects of drilling on the environment.
Hill and Morgen Baldwin lead the coalbed methane committee in the recently formed community organization called North West Watch.
Focusing on environmental and sustainability issues in the northwest, Hill stresses that the Watch group is an advocate for responsible development and want to work with business leaders and decision makers to build sound development. They are working with other environmental organizations in the area to create a cohesiveness in the watershed.
Hazelton resident Shannon McPhail of the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition said groups are popping up everywhere throughout the region. The coalition recently sent 1,730 letters of opposition to the coalbed methane project to Royal Dutch Shell’s CEO in the Netherlands.
“We’re the ones who live here when they’re gone,” she said.
She admitted she was surprised that in a city typically pro-development, and with industry recently hard hit, that so many people would come out and march.
“I was really surprised by how passionate people were,” McPhail said, “but then again, it’s not really surprising because it’s a passionate issue.”
Tahltan Rhoda Quock and Headwaters Initiative director Bruce Hill spoke at the George Little Park rally, and Skeena – Bulkley Valley NDP MP Nathan Cullen gave a rousing speech.
“This is not about Shell, this is about us,” Cullen said. “This is about the kind of territory we’re going to live in. This is about the kind of future we’re making for our kids. This is about us being proper stewards of the resource that we were given, to protect and keep forever.”
Once at the Elks Hall, chants of “get the Shell out” and “go home” were directed to the Shell representatives, who invited the rally participants in for more information on the project.
McPhail, North Coast MLA Gary Coons, and Kevin Gosnell from the Nisga’a First Nation ended the rally with speeches reiterating the need to protect the Sacred Headwaters.
Shell official Larry Lalonde said the company welcomes all questions and the chance to provide information.
Part of the Shell contingent included a video cameraman who filmed people in and around the Elks hall. Lalonde said that was standard practice by the company.
RCMP officers helped direct traffic during the march through the city but one officer was also stationed in the Elks hall itself. Lalonde said Shell did not request a police presence in the hall.
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