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February 13 2008 » News Clippings » The Northern View (Opinion)

We must work together to protect the sacred headwaters


By Gary Coons, MLA

Our rivers, and the fish that live in them, are one of the defining features of this region. Northwest British Columbia

produces more wild salmon that almost any other place on earth. Most of those salmon can be traced back to the region’s big three rivers, the Skeena, the Nass and the Stikine. All three of these rivers, uniquely, begin in the same place, an area the Talhtan nation calls the Sacred Headwaters.

That is why many people who live in the northwest are concerned about Shell’s plans to drill for coalbed methane over an 800, 000 acre area which includes the headwaters of our salmon rearing rivers. Shell’s proposed drilling sites are located adjacent to spawning grounds for chinook, sockeye, coho, and steelhead in the Skeena watershed. Robust populations of grizzly bears, caribou, wolves, moose, mountain goat, and stone sheep inhabit the Sacred Headwaters area. The Skeena, Nass and Stikine Rivers are among Canada’s greatest wild salmon systems.

Coalbed methane is an extremely disruptive form of resource extraction that provides few jobs to regions affected by it. In the case of Prince Rupert, we stand to lose our share of the $110 million in revenue the Northwest gets just from Skeena river salmon. Coalbed methane has never been done in a salmon producing environment, but there are many examples of species of fish that have done poorly due to coalbed methane; this type of extraction has been known to kill rivers and streams.

Dewatering, in which toxic wastewater is removed from a coal deposit in order to release the gas, is a problem for several reasons. Thousands upon thousands of litres of this water must be drained out of the deposit for the wells to work. Disposing of the water, which is often contaminated by salts and heavy metals, is concerning. Re-injection of the water back underground is risky, especially given the lack of knowledge about this region’s hydrology, and leaving it above ground, in toxic surface pools, cannot be an option.

Methane migration is another problem; all the methane released by dewatering is not captured by the wells, some of it migrates into aquifers and underground streams. In some communities, this has resulted in residents being able to set their tap water on fire. That isn’t the sort of scenario that we want for our wild salmon.

A major public concern is that coalbed methane projects are not required to undergo an environmental assessment. Three great salmon rivers, as well as 800, 000 acres of pristine wilderness are at stake. Mines, which, unlike coalbed methane, can serve as economic drivers for our communities, have to go through the process of consultation and assessment before they can proceed. Why should this and other energy projects be exempted from regulations meant to protect the public and serve their interests?

The Liberal government is giving away our land, our water, and our ecological security to a multinational corporation (Shell Canada) with a poor social and environmental record. People who live in this region and depend on the salmon for their cultural and economic well being deserve a say in this decision. The Honour of the Crown also requires the government to make good on their promise of a ‘new relationship’ by consulting with the Talhtan and downstream nations, like the Gitxsan, Tshimshian, Nisga’a about this.

Coalbed methane, as an industry, has never been an environmental success. The Province of BC and Royal Dutch Shell have never commercially produced coalbed methane. It is difficult to have confidence that existing regulations can adequately protect our wild salmon given that neither this government nor Shell has demonstrated a commitment to pursuing baseline studies and assessments that would evaluate the risks of this venture. Both the company and the provincial government seem intent on making our rivers into a case study in negligence.

It is important for people in this region to join with other communities in the northwest and across the province, who are calling on the provincial government to put a hold on this controversial form of resource extraction. Communities, individuals and First Nations must have their say. We must protect our Sacred Headwaters!

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Gary Coons is MLA for the riding of North Coast

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