After months of silence, another threatening letter linked to a series of bomb attacks on sour-gas wells and pipelines in northeastern British Columbia has been delivered to a local newspaper.
The Dawson Creek Daily News received the letter sometime Wednesday.
Excerpts of the letter, provided verbatim by the Daily News, were published on a local news website, Energetic City:
"Time-out is over!! The long and ‘hot’ summer is coming. You had enough time to reconsider your actions but you chose to push harass and intimidate people in our territories. We are growing in strength and now ready for actions at all your installations.
"The corrupt RCMP and your security personnel are not going to help you as they haven’t done it to date. They became objects of jokes here.
"Your dirty money isn’t going to help you. This land belongs to us and our children not to you. You are the criminals not us. Be prepared for action as we intended to fight back with a range you haven’t seen before. Get out of our home lands and stop poisoning us or face the consequences!!"
The RCMP said Thursday they had the letter.
"Our investigators are working to determine whether the letter is a hoax or authentic," Sgt. Rob Vermeulen said. "While there’s no specific threat made and no timeline was given, our primary concern is obviously for the safety of the residents."
Vermeulen said they hope the author or authors of the letter share that concern.
"When you have a letter that threatens some sort of action, whether it’s a hoax or not, we have to take it very seriously from the outset," he said.
This is at least the fifth letter sent in the twisting saga of pipeline bombings in the region.
Since October 2008, there have been six bomb attacks targeting energy giant Encana Corp.’s infrastructure. No one has been hurt in the attacks.
The attacks began after an anonymous letter was sent to local newspapers, warning the energy giant to cease its operations in the area south of Dawson Creek, B.C., about 600 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
Three letters were sent in July of last year, with one calling Encana "terrorists" who were "endangering our families with crazy expansion of deadly gas wells in our home lands."
It gave the company three months to close up shop or "things get a lot worse." That deadline passed without incident.
One of those letters – sent with a bullet taped to the page – was ruled a hoax by RCMP.
The bombings, which RCMP have called "domestic terrorism," have exposed the ongoing resentment some area residents feel toward the oil and gas development taking place near their communities.
Eager to see the attacks on its property end, Encana offered a $1-million prize, a reward that equalled the amount of money offered after Canada’s infamous Air India bombing.
In January, it appeared police may have cracked the case, as RCMP arrested notorious oilpatch activist Wiebo Ludwig in connection with the attacks and searched his property near Hythe, in northwestern Alberta.
But, a short time later, Ludwig was released without charge, despite RCMP insisting they had arrested the right man.
Contacted Thursday, Ludwig said he didn’t write the letter and doesn’t know who did.
"It sounds pretty severe, the content," Ludwig said. "I think it’s probably something to be more concerned about, because nothing has been done."
Encana spokesman Alan Boras said the company will continue to operate in the area, and plans remain in place to expand development in the long-term.
"We have security measures in place, but we don’t talk about them in detail because that makes them less secure," Boras said. "We review the measures on a periodic basis and adjust them as we deem appropriate for the circumstances."
Encana will not comment on the ongoing RCMP investigation.
Information contained in search warrants said police had DNA evidence linking Ludwig to one of the threatening letters that had been sent in connection with the bombings.
Ludwig was released from prison in 2001 after serving two-thirds of a 28-month sentence for five charges related to oilpatch bombing and vandalism.
He had said he was helping police with their investigation of the recent bombings, and had written an open letter to the bomber.
Ludwig has long been an outspoken critic of the public health risks he claims oil and gas companies disregard in favour of development.
In the anonymous letter received this week, the writer needles the authorities for putting pressure on Ludwig.
"Every time they harass Wiebo Ludwig it proves their desperation which means that they don’t know anything. The million dollars reward was intended to divide us here. It had the opposite effect.
"Thanks to your ‘efforts’ we are more united now than ever before. This note doesn’t contain any DNA so don’t look for it and don’t waste the taxpayer’s money at the same time pretending that you’re doing something. Do the right thing instead."
With files from Ben Gelinas, Edmonton Journal
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