Did Kinder Morgan use Baroid 41 within a sensitive fish habitat?

by Jeremy Board, Canadian Citizen, Business Owner, Resident of Kitsilano, B.C.

November 08, 2016.

The foundational premise of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain Pipeline Proposal is that Indigenous Peoples and Canadians should trust Kinder Morgan’s approach to pipeline engineering. We are asked, as a community, to trust their commitment to protecting our natural environment. Environmental activists and Indigenous protectors are asked to move beyond “irrational concerns” and “individual protests”. We are asked, as a community, to trust the response of the Canadian Government to identified spills and environmental infractions.

In this article, I will prove that Kinder Morgan intentionally used the lethal and carcinogenic chemical substance BAROID 41 within a sensitive fish habitat, by the Brunette River in Burnaby B.C., that connects to a local urban fishery, where local children catch, cook and digest Rainbow Trout. I will prove that when notified the National Energy Board, the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Conservation Officers Service all chose to ignore my concerns, the concerns of the Fisheries Scientist of the Freshwater Fishery Society of BC and the concerns of the Section Head, Eco Systems of the BC Ministry of Forest Lands and Natural Resource Operations. I will further prove that once they became aware that they had been reported using Baroid 41, Kinder Morgan immediately packed up the site and covered up the Baroid 41 material with earth by the Brunette River.

So what happened? 

On February 27, 2015 I saw photographs on facebook posted by the respected Squamish stream keeper John Preissl. They showed what appeared to be drilling and the intentional release of toxic substances within a sensitive fish habitat. As a recreational fisherman, who every year catches both rainbow trout and salmon from the local urban fisheries, I was shocked and deeply concerned, as I know the Brunette River is a part of the Burnaby urban fishery used by myself and local children to catch, cook and eat Rainbow Trout. So, as a responsible Canadian citizen, I immediately sent an alarm message to the BC Freshwater Fisheries Society.

Feb 27, 2015. Here is the email I sent and the message I received back from Paul Askey, Fisheries Scientist. In his response Paul immediately shared my concern and took action to escalate the issue with Duane Jesson of the BC Ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations.

March 03, 2015. I then sent an email to both Paul and Duane with the photos I had seen, asking them if the Burnaby Fisheries would be safe for the coming 2015 season (trout stocking was about to begin).

March 04, 2015. I then received an email back from Paul stating that this was not really his jurisdiction and he was leaving it to the Government to respond.

March 04, 2015. I then sent another email to Paul and Duane, this time cc: Ian Blackburn emphasizing my respect for the Freshwater Fishery Society, asking a number of questions.

March 05, 2015. I received a response back from Ian Blackburn, Section Head, Eco Systems, BC Ministry of Forest, Lands and Natural Resource Operations. Ian, sharing the concern, immediately sending the concern to the Conservation Officers Service and indicating that the Conservation Officers Service had sent the concern onto the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans.

March 06, 2015. I then sent a reply to Ian Blackburn the next morning, 140 hours after first flagging my concern, expressing my now extreme concern and frustration that I heard nothing back from either the DFO or the COS,  NOTHING had been done. I felt as if my concern was being brushed off so I asked for the contact names of those now responsible in the DFO and COS. I heard nothing back.

THE COVER UP.

Meanwhile, I saw this photograph on social media, see below, taken approx. March 02, 2015. I was stunned, the entire drill site had now been packed up, the earth racked over and run off division fencing newly put into place. It can clearly be seen that the earth is now of different colours, I do not know why. It can also be seen that the run off division fencing has been newly assembled. From this photograph, it appeared to myself that the Baroid 41 was being either covered up or the site was being presented in a public friendly light. I felt very disappointed, I had heard nothing back from the DFO or the COS. No investigation had been completed, no testing of the soil for Baroid 41. I couldn’t believe it and fully realized that the environmental activists were right, we can’t trust either Kinder Morgan or the Canadian Federal Government departments to genuinely care about the well-being of our community.

A FINAL APPEAL TO THE NEB

The way my concern was treated left me feeling very disappointed and powerless. It was a feeling that turned to anger and pain as I witnessed local children with their fathers beginning to fish for trout in the urban fishery which I had been unable to protect. I told as many people as possible what I had witnessed.

In November 2015, I was hopeful that the new liberal Government would change things for the better, that they would hold companies like Kinder Morgan to account, that they would overhaul a system which does not protect the environment of the community. I was therefore hopeful when they announced they would overhaul the NEB and reopen hearings into the proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline project. I received an email from my MP Joyce Murray encouraging me to voice my concern and experience to the National Energy Board, which is exactly what I did, here is the email I sent.

On July 23, 2016 I received an email reply from the new NEB, it was an automatic reply starting that “while all emails will be reviewed, responses should not be expected due to the volume of responses”.

I heard nothing back from the NEB after informing them of the use of Baroid 41 by Kinder Morgan within a sensitive fish habitat. I was not invited to present my evidence to the NEB Panel. I was completely ignored by the NEB.

CONCLUSION

In this article I have proved that Kinder Morgan intentionally used the lethal and carcinogenic chemical substance BAROID 41 within a sensitive fish habitat, by the Brunette River in Burnaby B.C., that connects to a local urban fishery, where local children catch, cook and digest Rainbow Trout.

I have proved that when notified the National Energy Board, the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Conservation Officers Service all chose to ignore my concerns, the concerns of the Fisheries Scientist of the Freshwater Fishery Society of BC and the concerns of the Section Head, Eco Systems of the BC Ministry of Forest Lands and Natural Resource Operations.

I have proved that once aware that they had been discovered using Baroid 41, Kinder Morgan immediately packed up the site and covered up the material with earth by the Brunette River.

How many local people inhaled or digested the Baroid 41, intentionally released by Kinder Morgan within the sensitive fish habitat, by the Brunette River, is currently unknown.