Today, the Tsleil-Waututh Nation the “People of the Inlet” released the outcomes of its independent assessment of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline and tanker project (TMEX), conducted as a matter of its own jurisdiction and law. On the basis of its assessment – which found that the TMEX proposal represents unacceptable risks and would violate Tsleil-Waututh law – Tsleil-Waututh announced that it has denied approval for the TMEX project to proceed in its territory.
The results of the independent Tsleil-Waututh assessment come in the face of mounting criticism and dissatisfaction with the National Energy Board’s (“NEB”) review of the TMEX project.
“The Tsleil-Waututh assessment, which relied on the knowledge of Tsleil-Waututh members as well as extensive expert reports, found that the potential effects and consequences of the Trans Mountain expansion proposal would be even worse than we thought,” said Chief Maureen Thomas. “As a matter of our ancestral laws and stewardship responsibilities, our nation had no choice but to reject the TMEX project.”