First paragraph (Teaser):

A friend of mine brought my attention to this story a few weeks ago and it hasn't received much media attention in Montréal so I spent some time today putting together this summary.

Rest of the text:

Six explosions have targetted EnCana Corp. pipelines in the area surrounding Dawson Creek, British Columbia. The first two bombs were set in October of 2008, with a third in November, a fourth in January of this year and now two more in July. These sour gas pipelines, containing natural gas with high levels of hydrogen sulfide, are controversial in the area, having elicited protests from settler communities and a two day blockade from the Kelly Lake Cree Nation in 2008.(1)

A hand-written letter was delivered to EnCana a day before the first bombing stating: "We will not negotiate with terrorists, which you are as you keep on endangering our families with crazy expansion of deadly gas wells in our homelands."(2) The letter gave a deadline of noon on the 11th of October for EnCana to close up all operations in the area. The first explosion was found on the 12th.

The RCMP's initial suspects included Wiebo Ludwig, a farmer accused of sabotage in the nineties, although they were unable to connect him with the current bombings. There was also some speculation about the region's first nations population.(3) The RCMP arrested one of the local Cree, but have been evasive on the reasons motivating his arrest - the media have reported the arrest in conjunction with the bombings, and some of the arrestees family also believe the arrest is connected.(4)

In 2000, during the trial of Wiebo Ludwig, it came out that the RCMP bombed an oil site as part of an infiltration campaign.(5) Calgary author Andrew Nikiforuk reports that area residents believe some of the bombings to have been similarly orchestrated: "If you go up into Dawson Creek and Pouce Coupe and you talk to people, many of the people there are quite convinced at least one of the bombings has been done by industry or by the RCMP."(6)

After the fourth bombing in January, EnCana offered a $500,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. The most recent bombings have prompted the RCMP to upgrade the crimes from "vandalism" to "terrorism".(7) These measures have provoked a surge in tips and calls to the police, leaving a cloud of repression lying low over the community. Jason Gratl of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association has already written to the RCMP asking them to cease harassment of two of his clients. He says: "The RCMP have fomented a climate of paranoia and suspicion ... by applying a level of social pressure that amounts to harassment and intimidation."(8)

People fear to reveal their names to the media, and one man who is involved in a legal dispute with EnCana over a well on his property has been publicly accused by investigators of being the bomber. Nikiforuk reports that these fears go even deeper: "Anyone concerned about the potential danger of sour gas leaks now is afraid to speak out for fear being in the Mounties' sights"(6)

The police have professed a total ignorance of any complaints or discontent in the community.

Sour Gas

Not much is known about the health risks of hydrogen sulfide in low concentrations, which makes it difficult to evaluate what kind of risks sour gas exploitation represents for the surrounding communities. High concentrations (More than 500 parts per million) can cause unconsciousness, brain damage and death. Another risk is stillbirth - statistical evidence exists linking the oil industry practice of 'flaring' to burn waste gases to higher incidences of stillbirths among farm animals.(9)

In some communities near sour gas lines or extraction operations, people can smell sulfur all day long. Although in BC deaths related to hydrogen sulfide have been limited to a few incidents of workers being exposed to the gasses, the same is not true abroad. In Xiaoyang, China, gas from an exploded sour gas well killed 243 people, injured another nine thousand, and displaced some forty thoudand people.(10)

EnCana

The EnCana corporation is a fossil fuels company worth some 22 billion dollars US, and posting a revenue figure of over 30 billion for the year of 2008 alone. They control nine natural gas projects in BC, Alberta, Wyoming, Colorado and Texas, four oil and tar sands projects in Alberta and Saskatchewan, as well as an offshore natural gas rig near Nova Scotia. On their planning board is another major tarsands project and exploration in Greenland.(11)

Like most natural gas companies, EnCana primarily exports its gas. Exports represented more than half of natural gas production in Canada in 2004(12), a figure that is only likely to grow given the aggressive western appetite for energy and the present context of trade liberalisation.

Sources

1. Stolte, Elist, "Search for clues continues in pipeline bombings", Canwest News Service, October 18th, 2008
2. "Pipeline bombing threat letter", RCMP in BC, December 4th, 2008
3. Ahni "Kelly Lake Cree Nation Denounces Pipeline Bombings", Intercontinental Cry, November 5th, 2008
4. "Sister of Ian Galdue Speaks Out", Energetic City, October 28th, 2008
5. "RCMP bombed oil site in 'dirty tricks' campaign", CBC News, November 10th, 2000
6. Mertl, Steve, "RCMP: Latest B.C. pipeline bombings have finally prompted tips to investigators", The Canadian Press, July 7th, 2009
7. "Dawson Creek - Pipeline Bombings - Reward Offered by EnCana ", RCMP in BC, January 13th, 2009
8. Hume, Mark, "Hunt for pipeline bomber draws harassment complaints ", The Globe and Mail, July 10th, 2009
9. "Sour gas: Why it makes people nervous", CBC News, August 10th, 2005
10. Parfitt, Ben, "Killing Fields", Straight.com, July 8th, 2004
11. These numbers from the Encana website and their 2008 Annual Report: Success belongs to those who see the future before it becomes OBVIOUS.
12. Bott, Robert D, "Sour gas: Questions+Answers", Canadian Centre for Energy Information, 2006