(Profile updated in 2012)
Updated spill data:
According to Enbridge’s own data, between 1999 and 2010, across all of the company’s operations there were 804 spills that released 161,475 barrels (approximately 18.95 million litres, or 5 million gallons) of hydrocarbons into the environment.
May 04 2010 - Press Release
OTTAWA, ON – In advance of Enbridge Inc.’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders scheduled for Wednesday, May 5th, the Polaris Institute and the Indigenous Environmental Network are releasing a new corporate profile of the company. In the profile, Enbridge Inc’s dirty tar sands gamble is exposed as potentially dangerous in terms of its impacts on the environment and First Nations communities.
The new 69 page profile, Out on the Tar Sands Mainline: Mapping Enbridge’s Web of Pipelines, raises serious questions about the company’s role in relation to the tar sands industry, and especially its future plans to open up Asian markets for dirty tar sands crude via the controversial Gateway pipeline. The profile explores the social costs of this game plan on First Nations communities and the environment and how, based on its track record, Enbridge will use its political clout, revolving door mechanisms and strategic donations to First Nations communities to carry its plans forward.
“For some, Enbridge Inc. is viewed as a provider of natural gas to heat homes and businesses, and to many this company is completely unknown” explains Richard Girard, Research Coordinator of the Polaris Institute. “However, this new company profile clearly shows that below the surface Enbridge Inc. has been, and continues to be, one of the key facilitators of the growth of the entire tar sands industry.”
The profile includes specific details on:
- recurring pipeline leaks that have caused environmental damage;
- the ongoing expropriation of First Nations land;
- widespread political lobbying and influence in Canada and the United States;
- interference in local community decision-making through financial contributions and projects.
“Given Enbridge’s track record, it is not a matter of if an oil leak on First Nations land will occur, but rather when it will happen again,” states Marty Cobenais, of the Indigenous Environmental Network