Chiefs, Petro-Canada hope to resolve blockade
Date: 16-Aug-01
Country: USA
Author: Ian McKinnon
Members of the Halfway River First Nation continued their peaceful protest yesterday about 80 kilometres (50 miles) northwest of Fort St. John, British Columbia, at the site belonging to Petro-Canada, the country's No. 3 energy firm.
The blockade is near the red-hot Ladyfern area, a new and prolific gas field where some wells are capable of producing an amazing 100 million cubic feet a day. The discovery has ignited a land rush from Canadian and U.S.-based petroleum companies eager to find new supplies to fuel growing demand from power plants, especially in the United States.
Native spokesman Jeff Metecheah said Petro-Canada and more than 30 other companies, including U.S. giants such as Anadarko Petroleum Corp. , are busy or planning to become active in the remote and boggy northeastern corner of the province. The band wants a moratorium on development until a study assesses the cumulative environmental impact of the boom.
"It would be nice if we could get a global (settlement) and work with everyone," Metecheah said. "We're not trying to make trouble here. We have a right to protect what we have for our future generations. It's not about money, it's about rights."
But big dollars are also at stake. Provincial land sales, which give companies the right to drill for oil and natural gas, have hauled in C$316 million ($207 million) so far this year, well above the C$248 million collected by British Columbia in all of 2000.
Analysts have said that Ladyfern and the prospect of finding more fields like it have spurred red-hot bidding at the province's monthly auctions.
About 100 protesters, including members of other native groups, are currently preventing equipment and workers from entering the Petro-Canada drilling camp, Metecheah said. However, vehicles and personnel are being allowed to leave.
FEARS WILDLIFE WILL BE DISRUPTED
The blockade started on Monday in protest against a C$7 million ($4.6 million), 21 kilometre (13 mile) pipeline being built through traditional hunting lands.
Metecheah said the roughly 200 members of the Halfway River band are concerned that petroleum exploration and development programs will disrupt area wildlife, particularly moose, and hurt their economic base as well as cultural traditions.
"As native people we live off the land, that's who we are. You can only eat beans, pork and whatever for so long because it's not good for you," he said. "It's our tradition."
The protest was a surprise to Petro-Canada, known for its oil and gas activities in Western Canada and on the East Coast, as well as a national chain of service stations.
Spokesman Chris Dawson said the company received regulatory approval for the pipeline in June. Consultation with native groups rerouted some portions of the line in response to their concerns about the impact on several hunting camps.
"It is an important operational area for us and to that end we're taking this seriously," he said.
Treaty rights, environmental effects and land use allocations are large societal issues that go well beyond Petro-Canada's ability to solve, Dawson said.
He would not predict the outcome of Thursday's meeting nor say whether Petro-Canada would push ahead with its September construction schedule if a deal is not reached.
About 20 people, mostly from service firm Precision Drilling Corp. , have been entangled in the dispute. Petro-Canada hopes to evacuate them by the weekend when a third well is expected to be completed, Dawson said.
Richard Neufeld, British Columbia's minster of energy, was in meetings yesterday and unavailable for comment. A spokeswoman said he was the only government person discussing the dispute.
Canadian native groups have increasingly turned to blockades and other forms of civil disobedience in dealing with governments over key issues such as land claims and hunting and fishing rights.