Response to Woodfibre LNG Environmental Assessment Certificate

MEDIA STATEMENT

For Immediate Release

October 26, 2015

Local Advocacy Organization Responds to Woodfibre LNG Environmental Assessment Certificate

Squamish, BC - In reaction to the British Columbia Provincial Government announcement on their issuance of an environmental certificate for the Woodfibre LNG facility proposed for Howe Sound in Squamish, local grassroots non-profit organization, My Sea to Sky co-founder, Melyssa Hudson makes the following statements:

“Since beginning our advocacy efforts in early 2014, it is evident that the environmental assessment process is anything but rigorous. It is simply a rubber stamping process put in place with a weak veil of environmental integrity.”

“The provincial government is gambling with the health of Howe Sound by simply accepting Woodfibre’s claim that its cooling system would be ‘unlikely’ to cause serious harm to fish. Oddly enough, the very same cooling system is banned in California and the US government will not approve it for any new LNG facilities due to the amount of harm it has done to sea life.”

“A concern not properly assessed is the issue of tanker safety. The Federal government, who is responsible for all shipping and tanker regulations, does not have a framework of regulations for LNG. We are concerned that the Federal government has not caught up with the breakneck speed at which British Columbia’s Premier Christy Clark is moving to rush LNG projects through approvals to save face from a failed election platform. For an approval to be granted when there aren’t even the shipping and tanker guidelines and regulations in place to ensure the safety of the communities in Howe Sound is simply negligent.”

“The social license for the Woodfibre LNG project has never been granted by the communities in Howe Sound who will bear the brunt of decreased air quality, a weak regulatory regime on marine protection, potentially negative economic impacts on our growing tourism industry and the burgeoning new economy in the corridor. On October 8th, My Sea to Sky delivered nearly 4,000 signatures to MLA, Jordan Sturdy on our Howe Sound Declaration and since then over 500 new signatures have come through. Municipalities in Howe Sound have all said ‘No’ to Woodfibre LNG and have passed motions calling for a ban on tankers in the Sound.”

“Since launching her platform for re-election in 2012, Premier Clark has been steadfastly displaying acrobatics with foreign corporations in order to blur the economic risk and uncertainty of a successful LNG business in Canada. Her ideology appears to be ‘at all costs’ rather than ‘what is in the best interest of the province and the public. We stand with strong conviction that what we do here in our town has impacts that reach beyond our district and beyond our generation.”

MEDIA CONTACT

Melyssa Hudson

Co-Founder, My Sea to Sky

myseatosky@gmail.com

788.238.6331