bc2009: EnCana to announce reward into B.C. pipeline bombings

EnCana to announce reward into B.C. pipeline bombings

By Linda Nguyen
Vancouver Sun
January 13, 2009

No one has been injured in the explosions, but police have said they fear the attacks are becoming increasingly violent. A cash reward, offered by EnCana, is expected to be announced as incentive for information on Tuesday.
Photograph by: Handout, Canwest News Service

DAWSON CREEK, B.C. - A “very significant cash reward” was set to be announced Tuesday in a joint news conference held by the RCMP and EnCana Corporation, an oil company that has been targeted in recent bombing attacks in northeastern B.C.

The reward was being offered in hopes of attracting more leads for police who have been investigating the case since the first section of EnCana’s sour gas line was bombed on Oct. 12, 2008. The explosion caused a two-metre crater under a pipeline south of the hamlet of Tomslake, about 30 kilometres south of Dawson Creek.

Four days later, another bomb farther down the road actually cracked a pipeline and caused a small amount of gas to leak out.

A third wellhead was hit and leaked on Oct. 31.

The most recent attack occurred on Jan. 4, when a fourth bomb blew apart a wall of a shed that housed a sour gas pipe. The targeted shed is just across the road from a house where a family with two young children live, causing RCMP to label the attacks as “increasingly violent.”

B.C. RCMP say there were currently no prime suspects in the investigation.

And a few residents in the small community have refused to co-operate with RCMP for various reasons even though a significant sour gas leak could be fatal.

The natural gas that flows through most of the pipes in the area contains deadly hydrogen sulphide, the compound that makes the gas “sour.”

Police were also continuing to look into whether the bombings are part of an “eco-terrorism” plot but say it is too premature to label it as such.

Neighbours frantic to catch pipeline bomber

Laura Drake
Calgary Herald
Monday, January 12, 2009

'Gave DNA Samples'; Pipeline attacks in B. C. spawn fear, suspicion

Willy Webster, with his wife Lisa, says "they think we are all criminals."John Lucas, Canwest News ServiceWilly Webster, with his wife Lisa, says "they think we are all criminals."

TOMSLAKE, B. C. - After the first pipeline bombing, En-Cana security trucks drove up and down the darkened rural roads of the remote area of northeastern British Columbia every night, headlights flashing into the windows of houses along the unlit gravel pathways.

Jake Hebert was driving home one night during the height of it all, after a long stretch away for work. He was just about home when the security people pulled him over. When asked what he was doing, he explained he was heading back to the house he had lived in for 20 years.

"One was shining a light in my face and the other one was crawling under my truck," Mr. Hebert recalled.

"It was unbelievable."

Not long after, the fourth bomb in three months targeting EnCana's natural gas equipment in the area went off only 300 metres from the Tomslake-area cabin where Mr. Hebert lives with his mother, Lisa Webster, and her husband, Willy.

Tomslake, about 28 kilometres south of Dawson Creek, was previously most famous for being settled by Germans who fled Nazi persecution. Then, on Oct. 12, 2007, a two-metre crater from an explosion was found under a pipeline south of the hamlet. Four days later, another bomb further down the road actually cracked a pipeline and caused a small amount of gas to leak out.

A third wellhead was hit and leaked on Oct. 31. And Jan. 4, a fourth bomb blew apart a wall of a shed that housed a sour gas pipe. The targeted shed is just across the road from a house where a family with two young children live, causing RCMP to label the attacks as "increasingly violent."

The bombings have cast a pall over the small, tight-knit community of several hundred who live around Tomslake. Residents want desperately for the culprit to be caught -- not only because of fears that an explosion could trigger a fatal gas leak, but also to lift the cloud of suspicion that has fallen over them and their neighbours.

The cabin made of thick, knotted logs where Lisa and Willy Webster have lived for 20 years is only a few metres back from a rural road.

"Now security will drive by and stop and look in the windows and it's like, what do you think we're doing, building bombs at the kitchen table?" Mr. Hebert said.

"They think we're all criminals," Mr. Webster added.

Mr. Hebert said a close friend, who was part of a small sit-in to protest the oil and gas presence in the spring, was one of the first to face harsh scrutiny from authorities. "He finally just gave them DNA samples because he had enough," he said.

He is not the only one whose innocence was questioned because of objections to the oil and gas presence.

Jim and Jan Zacharias, who live several kilometres away from the Websters, heard their name was floated in connection with the attacks during some police interviews.

"The RCMP have been at our neighbour's house, saying 'Wouldn't those Zachariases be the kind of people to do this?' They just laughed," Ms. Zacharias said.

Though they have not participated in any protests or sit-ins, they have started a group called Citizens for Responsible Energy Development in the Peace. They have EnCana on speed dial. And they are well-known for their views on the industry, which has had a large impact on their lives in the last half decade.

However, the couple said they would not stop voicing their opposition to the oil and gas companies for fear of appearing suspect. "When this bomb went off here, everyone was all, 'You must be scared, you must be pissed,'" Mr. Zacharias said. "My concerns are the oil and gas, not the bomber. I'd rather he'd stop."

But at the same time, he's the reason people are finally paying attention," Ms. Zacharias added.

No one knows who is behind the attacks or why they are happening. The bombings are the most popular conversation topic between Tomslake and Dawson Creek, and everyone has a theory on who it is, be it a radical environmentalist, a disgruntled land owner or an ex-oilfield employee.

B. C. RCMP Sergeant Tim Shields said there is no prime suspect in the investigation.