Enbridge pipeline in Canada draws fire

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 4 (UPI) -- The provincial government in British Columbia said it's concerned about any potential oil spills from Enbridge Energy's planned Northern Gateway pipeline.

Enbridge plans to build the Northern Gateway pipeline to Canada's West Coast has drwan opposition from provincial and environmental leaders concerned about the safety of transporting oil recovered from oil sands from Alberta province. The pipeline is meant to carry an average of 525,000 barrels of oil per day through British Columbia.

The provincial government submitted a brief to the National Energy Board, an energy regulator. The Vancouver Sun reported Friday the brief said clean up would be difficult in the event of a spill.

"Many parts of the pipeline will be located in remote areas, some distance from road networks and population centers," the brief said.

The government pointed to a major Enbridge oil spill in Michigan in 2010 as cause for concern. "Enbridge has not demonstrated its ability to learn from its mistakes in order to avoid spills," the brief said.

Enbridge said it has more than 200 environmental experts tasked with assessing the project.