New report highlights risks of Kinder Morgan pipeline project
Houston, TX and Vancouver, BC - Today First Nation leader Rueben George was joined by Eugene Kung of West Coast Environmental Law and Lisa Lindsley of SumOfUs at the Kinder Morgan annual shareholders meeting in Houston, Texas. Their remarks to Kinder Morgan shareholders were reinforced by a report released today by Stand in Vancouver, Canada entitled “Top 7 reasons You Can’t Trust Kinder Morgan.”
“We are opposed to Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain expansion project, which terminates in the heart of our territory, because of the unacceptable risk that a spill poses to our culture, identity and spirituality. We will do what it takes to stop it” said Rueben George of the Tsleil-Waututh Sacred Trust Initiative.
“This joint action is intended as a warning to both investors and communities: This company has a terrible track record of safety and corporate accountability and cannot not be trusted to move forward with this project,” said Lisa Lindsley, Capital Markets Manager with the global consumer watchdog SumOfUs.
The report highlights the links between Kinder Morgan and the discredited Enron. Kinder Morgan started off as “Enron Liquid Pipelines LLP”, before Richard Kinder left his position of President and COO of Enron to head the new pipeline company. “We can’t trust our coast to Texas billionaires with a history of putting the bottom line ahead of people and communities. Let’s be clear: This pipeline will never be built,” said Sven Biggs, pipeline campaigner with Stand.
“Community opposition and ongoing legal challenges have created significant delay, risk and uncertainty – so far two projects in the US have already been cancelled. In Canada, over 20 municipalities have already registered their opposition to the Trans Mountain project,” said Eugene Kung of West Coast Environmental Law.
“While Alberta is struggling to balance their budget given the low price of oil, Kinder Morgan is dodging Canadian taxes that should be going into the public purse,” said Karen Mahon of Stand.
KINDER MORGAN BY THE NUMBERS - From the Report
17: Number of First Nations opposed to the pipeline
21: Municipalities, including virtually all municipalities in the Lower Mainland, opposed to the pipeline
-$4.2 million: The Canadian Tax Bill Kinder Morgan paid in 2013 (Total of net taxes paid, less tax breaks)
6 million litres: The amount of oil that has already been spilled by the existing pipeline
1800: Number of oil and chemical violations since 1997
View the report here: http://www.stand.earth/youcanttrustkindermorgan
Read Rueben George’s full remarks to shareholders.
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Contacts:
Rueben George, Tsleil-Waututh Sacred Trust Initiative – 604-720-4630
Eugene Kung, West Coast Environmental Law – 604-601-2514
Juan Parras, Tejas Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Service – 604-720-4630
Lisa Lindsley, Sumofus.org – 201-321-0301 press@sumofus.org
Karen Mahon, Stand, (formerly ForestEthics) – 604-836-5992
Sven Biggs, Stand, (formerly ForestEthics) – 778-882-8354