Russian scientists caution against building LNG site on Lelu Island

VANCOUVER, B.C. — Another group has come out against the building of an LNG facility on Lelu Island over concerns of harm to wild salmon.

The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs says a trio of Russian scientists, along with a conservationist, are finishing up a tour of B.C. and have voiced their concerns about Pacific NorthWest LNG’s potential to cause harm to the wild salmon and their habitat on the Flora Bank, off of the north coast’s Lelu Island — saying it’s the ‘worst possible place to put an LNG facility.’

The scientists hail from Sakhalin, an island north of Japan that is home to a large LNG facility since 2009. Scientists saw a ‘severe decline’ in the population of pink salmon positively correlate with the operation of the facility.

Dr. Aleksandr Shubin, a Salmon Ecologist with the Sakhalin Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, noted the decline in salmon populations seen after a LNG site was built even miles away from the main habitat of the fish.

“The Sakhalin LNG Site is over 30km away from the closest major salmon river,” he said. “while the PNW LNG site is located right on top of the most critical salmon habitat in the Skeena estuary — the impacts will be much greater here in the Skeena.”

President of UBCIC, Grand Chief Stewart Philip remains firm in his and the Union’s standing that proposals for large industrial projects must be informed by science and apply the facts.

“Any large-scale development proposal such as the PNW LNG facility on Lelu Island must carefully consider the science, must consider the immediate, mid-term, and long-term impact to fish, and must recognize and respect the Aboriginal Title, Rights, and the future of our children and grandchildren,” he said.

Vice-President Chief Bob Chamberlain is Chair of the First Nations Wild Salmon Alliance, stated that this area is ‘critical to the future abundance of the wild salmon First Nations communities rely on,’ confirmed by traditional knowledge, and peer-reviewed science.

The effect an LNG facility would have on a great population of salmon has been under debate recently, as Fisheries and Oceans Canada sent the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency a letter, stating that science from Pacific NorthWest LNG confirmed the facility would pose little risk of harm to salmon populations near Flora Bank in January.

Federal Environment and Climate Change Minister Catherine McKenna could make a final decision by April of this year.