B.C. pipeline bombings just a 'nuisance' to industry
Last Updated: Tuesday, July 7, 2009 | 6:58 AM PT
CBC News
A saboteur's bomb blast on Oct. 12, 2008, created a 1.8-metre-wide crater near an EnCana natural gas pipeline about 50 kilometres east of Dawson Creek in northern B.C. A sixth explosion, causing a small gas leak, was reported Saturday. (RCMP) RCMP are calling a wave of bomb attacks on natural gas facilities in northern British Columbia "terrorism," but an energy analyst says the bombings are having little impact on the gas industry.
Canada's anti-terror squad is investigating six bombings of EnCana Corp. facilities near Dawson Creek. The most recent bomb exploded on Saturday.
Peter Linder, president of the energy investment firm DeltaOne Capital Partners, said Monday the bombings have caused barely a ripple in energy company boardrooms in Calgary.
"This is more of a nuisance than anything for the company," Linder said.
"Clearly this is serious from a criminal standpoint, but not from an industry standpoint. I don't think its going to spread. It's one or a small group of people doing it. Eventually, they'll be caught. At the end of the day, it's not a big deal for the industry.
It's a different story for people who live in the area.
The bomb on Saturday exploded near Tim Ewert's organic farm.
"We could see a huge plume of smoke," Ewert recalled. "We could see an actual gas flare and then the whole valley behind us was filled with dark smoke."
Ewert said the noise from the drilling engines, the loud gas flares that "come in like a tsunami" and now the blasts detonated along the pipelines are all equally disturbing to people living in the once tranquil area.
"We still don't feel particularly more threatened by the bomber than we do by the industry," Ewert said. "The industry is more death by a thousand cuts. If the bomber blows up something too close to you, it could be all over at once.
"Both parties are doing quite a lot of damage to us."
Ewert said he doesn't support the bombers, but said he hopes energy companies and the government will now address the frustrations that may have led to the attacks.
