First Nations slam proposed pipeline after latest oil spill south of the border

VANCOUVER - Aboriginal leaders say a spill in southern Michigan that's poured 3.1 million litres of oil into the Kalamazoo River is further evidence that B.C. should steer clear of such projects.

Calgary-based Enbridge (TSX:ENB) has proposed a pipeline stretching from the tar sands near Edmonton to the northern B.C. coastal community of Kitimat.

But Enbridge's affiliate, Enbridge Energy Partners LP of Houston, is responsible for the Michigan spill and a B.C. First Nations coalition says it's further proof why the proposed Northern Gateway project should be scrapped.

Coastal First Nations executive director Art Sterritt says despite Enbridge's claim that the Northern Gateway project will be a model of safety, such a spill could happen in B.C.

Sterritt, who recently visited the U.S. Gulf Coast to view the effects of that region's oil spill, says he was told by locals that the only way to avoid a similar disaster is to keep oil out.

Coastal First Nations president Gerald Amos says a spill on the B.C. coast would wipe out the marine resources First Nations depend on so heavily.-CP-