Enbridge gets rough ride from environmental groups

QUEBEC CITY – Claire Durocher grows cedars in the Laurentians. She told Global News she regrets having signed a contract almost 40 years ago allowing Enbridge to run its pipeline on her property.

“When it’s raining, after the rain, the oil comes through the soil, and they said it was not the Enbridge oil, it’s my oil,” she said.

Durocher said she believes Enbridge is a bad corporate citizen and shouldn’t be allowed to develop in Quebec. She wasn’t invited to speak at the National Assembly hearings into Enbridge’s proposed pipeline reversal project, but Christian Simard from Nature-Quebec was.

“When I see Quebec just be a carpet with the petroleum of Alberta I am very sad and very disappointed,” Simard told the parliamentary committee.

Environmentalists argued reversing the flow of the 9B pipeline to bring heavy Western crude to Montreal will increase greenhouse gas emissions at a time when the province is pledging to cut those emissions and invest millions to electrify transportation.

“Our biggest concern is the government of Quebec is not looking at the real impact of this project,” said Greenpeace spokesperson Patrick Bonin. “This project means the expansion of the tar-sands which is the worst fuel in the world in terms of pollution.”

Enbridge responded by saying it can help the province become greener.

“Enbridge is the biggest producer in Canada of solar power and the second biggest producer of wind power and most of our assets are in Quebec,” said company spokesperson Eric Prud’homme. “Yes we do follow the trends towards green and renewable energy but we can’t go quicker than the customers driving their cars with petroleum products.”

Environmentalists insisted further study is needed. The National Assembly hearings wrap up on Friday after only eight days.

Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre also refused to give Enbridge a blank cheque. He asked that the company create a $1 billion fund in case of a major spill.

“We must be vigilant,” Coderre told the committee.

Legally speaking there is very little Quebec can do to block the project. The National Energy Board will decide in the new year whether Enbridge can go ahead with the pipeline reversal.