IN THE NEWS / Opposition Grows To Alliance Pipeline
Ludwig joins fight
By CAROL HOWES
The Financial Post
CALGARY -- Eco-activist Wiebo Ludwig, a vigorous opponent of oil and gas drilling in northern Alberta, has a new fight on his hands -- the $4-billion Alliance Pipeline Ltd. project.
Mr. Ludwig said yesterday he has discovered the 3,500-kilometre pipeline will flow gas 2.5 kilometres south of his 128-hectare farm near Grand Prairie, Alta.
"Am I going to blow it up or something? If I told you that, I'd have security crawling all over me and I've had enough of that recently," said the 57-year-old former evangelical preacher.
Jack Crawford, a spokesman for Alliance, said the company is taking safety measures as it begins to clear land in the area next month in preparation for laying pipeline in the spring. It will run from northeastern British Columbia through Alberta to Chicago.
Mr. Crawford wouldn't say what action the company will take to protect construction workers in the western part of Alberta that has been plagued by vandalism.
"I really would prefer not to share any information," he said. "We're certainly taking it very seriously. With some of the things that have happened in that area, I think everyone is concerned."
Mr. Ludwig, who accuses the petroleum industry of spewing health-harming emissions in the natural resource rich region, has been accused of promoting violence against petroleum companies such as Alberta Energy Co. and Suncor Energy Inc.
He is not as worried about the pipeline in his backyard as he is about the increased drilling that will occur over the next five years to meet the new pipeline capacity. Alliance will ship 1.3 billion cubic feet a day of natural gas to the United States.
"We're trying to suck up all the gas out of the ground at once," he said, adding the more drilling there is, the more emissions will be spewed into the air.
He pointed to a recent report backing some of his claims. According to the Canadian Chemical Producers Association, Alberta's chemical manufacturers reported a 13% increase in emissions from 1992 to 1997, while nationally there was a 55% drop. Increased activity in the petrochemical business in Alberta was blamed for much of the increase. Mr. Ludwig isn't alone in his opposition to Alliance's pipeline, approved last month by the National Energy Board.
Judy Maas, a tribal chief in northern B.C., said a number of First Nations had not been consulted on the project, nor on the increased drilling that will be necessary to sustain it.
Meanwhile, environmental group Rocky Mountain Ecosystem Coalition filed notice with the Federal Court of Canada this week for an injunction to stop construction of the Alliance pipeline, claiming it hasn't undergone a proper and lawful environmental assessment. The 500-member coalition claims the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans and thePrairie Farm Rehabilitiation Administration did not undertake environmental assessments as required under federal legislation.
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