SARNIA, Ontario, July 29 (UPI) -- An aboriginal community in Canada said a regional movement is rising against the environmental threat from tar sands oil.
Friday marked the third anniversary of the Enbridge oil spill in southern Michigan, one of the worst onshore incidents of its kind. At least 20,000 barrels of oil spilled near Marshall, Mich., in 2010 when Line 6b, part of a larger pipeline system owned by Enbridge, burst.
Members of the Aamjiwnaang First Nation held a protest Saturday in Sarnia to mark the anniversary. They said part of the pipeline system runs very near the border of their reserve in Ontario. The aboriginal community took part in the protest under the banner of Idle No More, a group of tribal communities in Canada.
Clayton Thomas-Muller, national campaigner for Idle No More, said the group would not give up its fight against the government's support for tar sands oil, considered more corrosive and toxic than conventional crude oil.
"A movement is rising up from coast to coast to coast against the Canadian Tar Sands and will continue to grow incrementally until we take back our democracy from the hands of corporations like Enbridge who would see all our streets, rivers, lakes and coastal areas destroyed by tar sands pipeline spills," he said in a statement Saturday.
Enbridge said it set a benchmark of zero incidents from its pipeline networks. The company spent nearly $1 billion on clean up of the July 26, 2010, spill.
