TWN Kinder Morgan ssessment

8/9/2019 TWN Kinder Morgan ssessment

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TREATY, LANDS & RESOURCES DEPARTMENT

Tsleil-Waututh Nation

ASSESSMENTof the TRANS MOUNTAIPIPELINEand TANKER EXPANSIPROPOSAL


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WE STAND HERE TOGETHER as Tsleil-Waututhpeople and we say ‘no.’ We say ‘no’ the risk is toogreat. Our obliga on is not to oil. Our obliga onis to our land, our water, our people, our life, oursnəwayəɬ . According to our snəwayəɬ , our law, thisproject represents a risk that we the Tsleil-Waututhpeople, are not willing to take.” 1

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Tsleil-Waututh representa ves at the 2014 NEB hearing.

c o v e r p o t o

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1 Oral Aboriginal tradi onal evidence given by Leah George-Wilson on October 16, 2014, during the Na onal Energy Board’s hearing for the TMEX proposal, held in Chilliwack, Bri sh Columbia.


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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Tsleil-Waututh Na on has a sacred, legal obliga onto protect, defend, and steward the water, land, air, and re-sources of our territory. Our stewardship obliga on includesthe responsibility to maintain or restore condi ons thatprovide the environmental, cultural, spiritual, and economicfounda on for our na on and community to thrive.

The decline of Burrard Inlet was evident by 1885 a erherring were massively over-harvested and became locallyex nct. By 1972 when harvest of bivalves like clams, oysters,

and mussels was banned, cumula ve effects of urban,commercial, and industrial development had exceeded whatis allowable under Tsleil-Waututh law. The best indicator ofthis is that our subsistence economy was devastated, leavingus without the natural resources we once depended uponfor food or trade like salmon, herring, clams, and birds.

A er thousands of years of suppor ng our Tsleil-Wau-tuth way of life, in less than 200 years key marine resourcesin Burrard Inlet were scarce, contaminated, or made inacces-sible. It is essen al to know both the historical context andthe compromised environmental integrity that exists todayin order to understand what our stewardship obliga onrequires of us.

While Tsleil-Waututh is ac vely involved in responsibledevelopment in our territory, our na on cannot consentto new development proposals that further contribute to

cumula ve effects, threatenour objec ves for marinestewardship, and delay ordeny re-establishment ofour subsistence economy.To do so would be contraryto our stewardshipobliga on.

Tsleil-Waututh has a Stewardship Policy that is anexpression of our inherent jurisdic on and law. It mandatesa review of all proposed water, land, and resource policies,plans, and developments inside what is referred to as ourConsulta on Area (see Map ). Assessments carried out underthe Stewardship Policy provide us with the informa on werequire to make informed decisions on whether to consentto a proposal or withhold support.

In December 2013, Kinder Morgan Canada led an

applica on with the Na onal Energy Board for the TransMountain pipeline and tanker expansion (TMEX) proposal,which would triple the volume of crude oil moved along theexis ng pipeline route. Approximately 70% of the dilutedbitumen, or dilbit, transported would be shipped from theWestridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, B.C. This would leadto a roughly seven-fold increase in the frequency of tankerdepartures from Burrard Inlet, from about once a week toat least one every day.

The Tsleil-Waututh Na on has assessed the TMEXproposal in accordance with our Stewardship Policy. Theassessment was required because many components ofthe proposed TMEX fall inside our Consulta on Area andhave the poten al to affect us. For example, the WestridgeMarine Terminal lies less than two kilometres across thewater from the main Tsleil-Waututh Reserve and the wakeof every arriving or depar ng tanker strikes our shoreline(see photo on next page).

The Table on the following page provides a descrip onof a representa ve set of Tsleil-Waututh tle, rights, andinterests threatened by the TMEX proposal.

Tsleil-Waututh are the “People of the Inlet” and a dis nct Coast Salish na onwhose territory includes Burrard Inlet. The Tsleil-Waututh people occupied,governed, and acted as stewards of our territory prior to contact, at contact(AD 1792), at the Bri sh Crown’s asser on of sovereignty (AD 1846), and

con nue to do so today. Our ancestors maintained villages in eastern Burrard Inlet,exclusively occupied and defended the area, and intensively used all the naturalresources there, especially marine and inter dal resources.


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TSLEIL-WAUTUTH

TITLE, RIGHTS,and INTERESTS TITLE, RIGHT, OR INTEREST DESCRIPTION

Archaeological and CulturalHeritage Sites

The right to preserve and protect sensi ve sites and to ensure they are keptphysically intact

Contemporary Economy The right to derive bene t from the territory and pursue economicdevelopment opportuni es in a variety of ways, related or unrelated tonatural resources

Cultural or Spiritual Prac ces andPlaces

The right to access important places with the assurance that they will bephysically and culturally intact, without disturbances of the view, viola on of

privacy, noise intrusions, polluted water, or contaminated sediment

Cultural Transmission The right to access sites for ac vi es, such as resource harvest, that fosterelder-youth interac on and provide elders with opportuni es to sharehistory, knowledge, tradi onal ways, and skills with youth

Cultural Travel The right to safe, unobstructed travel throughout Burrard Inlet

Environmental Integrity The right to an environment that is not signi cantly degraded and is well withinits capacity to sustain a robust subsistence economy and the Tsleil-Waututhpeople as a na on

Environmental Stewardship The right and responsibility to manage natural resources and the

environment in Burrard Inlet

Individual and Community Health The right to condi ons conducive to healthy bodies, minds, and spirits—that is, to theintertwined environmental, cultural, spiritual, social, and economic condi ons thatensure the well-being of individuals and of the community as a whole

Marine Fish and Wildlife Habitat andSpecies

The right to a healthy, diverse, and interconnected habitat that supports diverse andabundant species free from contamina on

Subsistence Economy, includingResource Access and Harvest or Use

The right to access and use natural resources for ceremonial, cultural,spiritual, subsistence, and economic purposes including as staple foods for the livingcommunity and for our ancestors, and the right to sell or trade theseresources

Title and Governance The right to possess our territory and exclusively occupy and use it for the bene t ofthe Tsleil-Waututh Na on, exercising authority and jurisdic on over its water, land, air,and resources in accordance with Tsleil-Waututh law

Tsleil-Waututh Beneft The right and responsibility to steward the territory for the bene t of past, present, andfuture genera ons

Tsleil-Waututh Reserve The right to environmental, cultural, and socio-economic condi ons that pose no harmto our reserve or its infrastructure

Water The right to clean water, free from pollu on, for drinking and for ceremonial, cultural,spiritual, subsistence, and economic purposes

Table


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As part of our assessment, Tsleil-Waututh commissioned ve expert reportsrelated to the TMEX proposal. The interna onally recognized experts reviewedthe risk, response, and consequences of poten al oil spills in Burrard Inlet.Their major ndings included:

» Implementa on of the TMEX proposal will make oil

spills in Burrard Inlet more likely.» Spilled oil has the poten al to foul every corner of

Burrard Inlet and most of it will land on the nearestbeaches.

» Less than half of the volume of spilled oil can becleaned up even under ideal circumstances like thosefound in Burrard Inlet.

» Any delay in spill cleanup response will decrease thetotal volume of oil recovered signi cantly.

» Dilbit is likely to sink in Burrard Inlet, especiallyduring late spring and summer when the Fraser Riveris ooding, and sending freshwater and sediment intoBurrard Inlet (see photo above).

» Small spills can cause signi cant, long las ng environ-mental damage especially to inter dal habitats likeshell sh beaches and eelgrass beds.

» Large spills will be an environmental catastropheincluding killing up to 500,000 birds.

» A large spill has the poten al to expose over one millionresidents around Burrard Inlet to acute health effectsfrom toxic air emissions.

The assessment described the seriousness of thepoten al effects of the TMEX proposal on Tsleil-Waututh

tle, rights, and interests, including:» The consequences of spilled oil are dire for Tsleil-

Waututh sensi ve sites, habitats, and species, and

for our subsistence economy, cultural ac vi es, andcontemporary economy.

» Any delay in spilled oil clean up response will increasethe nega ve effects and consequences.

» The direct effects of marine shipping like shoreline ero-sion add to the effects and consequences of spilled oilamplifying the nega ve effects of the TMEX proposal.

» The effect of the TMEX proposal on Tsleil-Waututhcultural ac vi es is as large as if not larger than itseffect on natural resources.

» The Tsleil-Waututh Na on cannot accept the increasedrisks, effects, and consequences of even another smallincident like the 2007 Westridge or 2015 MV Marathas-sa oil spills, let alone a large spill.

» Implementa on of the TMEX proposal will 1) slowor deny achievement of Tsleil-Waututh marine stew-ardship objec ves and 2) violate Tsleil-Waututh lawbecause it will undermine our stewardship obliga ons.

The assessment concluded that the TMEX proposal does

not represent the best use of Tsleil-Waututh territory andits water, land, air, and resources to sa sfy the needs of ourancestors, and the needs of present and future genera ons.It has the poten al to deprive past, current, and future gen-era ons of our community control and bene t of the water,land, air, and resources in our territory. The assessmentrecommends that Chief and Council con nue to withholdTsleil-Waututh Na on’s support for the TMEX proposal.

The full assessment report and expertreports are available at:twnsacredtrust.ca .

Maj. J.S. Ma hews’ 1932 Mapof “Slailwit Tuth,” City ofVancouver Archives

Outer Harbour, 2015, a er MV Marathassa oil spill

Westridge Marine Terminal fromTsleil-Waututh Reserve


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This map is a living document and is intended to be amendedand re ned over me. It is not an expression of the loca onof Tsleil-Waututh aboriginal tle, rights, or interests. The dataused to produce this map originate from many sources andare presented without prejudice. This map is the property ofthe Tsleil-Waututh Na on and may not be reproduced withoutwri en permission. Sources of spa al data for this map includeTsleil-Waututh Na on, BC Government, Government of Canada,Integrated Cadastral Informa on Society, Metro Vancouver.Map produced May 2015 by the Tsleil-Waututh Na on.


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Documents

TWN Kinder Morgan ssessment