from Skeena Wild Conservation Trust

CBM and The Sacred Headwaters

In 2004, the BC government sold Shell Canada the gas rights to a 412,000 hectare area to explore for coalbed methane (CBM) in the Klappan Valley. This is an area called the Sacred Headwaters, the place where three of Canada’s great wild rivers—the Nass, Skeena and Stikine—all begin. In 2005 they were asked by elders of the Tahltan First Nation to leave. In 2006, Shell suspended their drilling program due to growing opposition. In 2007, Tahltan elders blockaded Shell’s road access. Shell spent the year in court and repairing road access. In 2008, thousands of northerners, BC residents, and people from around the world joined the campaign to protect the Sacred Headwaters. A few months later, the provincial government placed a 2-year moratorium on CBM exploration in the headwaters.

CBM extraction can have significant impacts on the land, water and wildlife. This kind of gas extraction would result in a maze of wells, pipelines and roads, leaving a very large footprint on the land. Additionally, there is typically toxic water, or “produced water” that must be removed from the ground. Very little is currently known about the tenure area’s hydrology (run-off patterns and ground water) and other potential implications that drilling for coalbed methane may have on the environment.

CBM and Salmon
Wild salmon are central to many cultures and economies in north western BC . These rivers are home to all 5 species of salmon, over 30 species of fish and a rich diversity of wildlife. Although our fishery is not perfect, over $100 million dollars are injected into communities in the Skeena due to our wild salmon economy.
CBM has never been done in a salmon bearing environment. In places where CBM development has occurred, it has had devastating impacts on the landscape and on fish and wildlife. Performing an experiment with CBM extraction in an area as sensitive as the Sacred Headwaters is unconscionable.


You can make a difference

1. Sign the SWCC Resolution
2. Write a letter to BC Premier Gordon Campbell
3. Contact your local Politicians
4. Contact your local environmental group and volunteer
5. Tell your family and friends to do the same