Hey #Manitoba I have some news about shipping #OilByRail through #Churchill.
@Arctic_Gateway bought the rail line which the #Omnitrax hucksters rode into the ground. Omnitrax, helmed by #CPC MP Merv Tweed, tried to ram oil shipments through Churchill in 2013.
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@Arctic_Gateway bought the rail line which the #Omnitrax hucksters rode into the ground. Omnitrax, helmed by #CPC MP Merv Tweed, tried to ram oil shipments through Churchill in 2013.
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https://twitter.com/billmckibben/status/1339976383712423937
Scientists around the world raised their voice and said it's a terrible idea. First Nations living on the rail line said no damn way. @wildernews and yours truly spent a year explaining that this was stupid and dangerous.
In 2014 when Omnitrax dumped another train...
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In 2014 when Omnitrax dumped another train...
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...into the Saskatchewan River Delta, the largest freshwater delta in North America, they gave up their idea. The train they dumped into the wetland was luckily only carrying wheat so there was less environmental impact than if it would have been oil. It was 1 of many crashes.
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The rail line goes across permafrost and discontinuous permafrost and something like 900 water bodies in its quest for the Bay. It is a hard route for rail, very unstable. There is no way to fix this feature of the permafrost, especially with climate change.
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The thing that held up the shipping of oil through the port of Churchill was environment act licencing to build new pump infrastructure. This was provincial control. The CPC MP Tweed had already found out that the feds would allow them to ship oil by rail with no new permits.
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Churchill locals didn't like the risk. A community meeting run by #Omnitrax got especially heated. I believe @joechurchill was at that meeting. But the company said they were going to do it no matter what the town folks said.
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In #Thompson MP @nikiashton spoke at our townhall against this plan, as every community on the Bush Line and the Bay Line would be at risk from oil, with very little reward. Churchill local @CarleyBasler was at that meeting too.
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Where this all goes is that @Arctic_Gateway has still entertained ideas of oil by rail, mentioning it on their facebook page in recent years. Oil-drunk yahoos in #Alberta keep talking up a pipeline to Churchill. So dumb. Trying to keep a train track true is hard enough.
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Working with folks from @CenterForBioDiv at regulations across the whole shipping route of the oil, we found some interesting things. Hudson Bay itself is controlled by the government of #Nunavut so they'd need to sign on to oil shipping.
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Oil tankers would also pass along the shores of northern Ontario and Quebec, bringing more decision-makers into play. Indigenous communities would also need buy-in for this. We were told that representatives were watching, and would step up and stop this if it progressed.
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We needed to push until this ended though. What we discovered is that to ship through Hudson Straight, separating Nunavut from northern Quebec, you needed an insurance certificate saying the route was clear of ice. July August September October...small window to ship.
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The company that issued this insurance: @LloydsofLondon !
Go back to the first tweet and they will no longer insure fossil fuels. As @billmckibben said this is a big deal. But it's a huge deal for @TownofChurchill residents. All the oily plans should be dead for good!
12/12
Go back to the first tweet and they will no longer insure fossil fuels. As @billmckibben said this is a big deal. But it's a huge deal for @TownofChurchill residents. All the oily plans should be dead for good!
12/12
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