Dear Editor:
I remain very concerned about the proposed new oil pipelines.
The default position in the making of landuse decisions must always be negative. The proponent must prove that the environmental risk is acceptable, the disruption to people's lives will not be unreasonable and the economic benefit to the community will be substantial. If it fails to do so the project should not proceed.
I am not against progress and development but have a healthy skepticism when it comes to how those seeking approval of mega-projects assess environmental risk.
As things stand I believe that neither the Northern Gateway nor the Trans Mountain expansion pipelines should be built. The proponents will have to do a great deal more than they have to date to convince me that either project makes sense.
Right now both look like high-risk, lowreturn ventures, at least from the point of view of the general public.
Garth Evans, Burnaby
