Wet’suwet’en water protectors call for legal observers as Coastal GasLink prepares to drill under the Wedzin Kwa river

Photo: This 6-minute video shows how horizontal directional drilling (HDD) would begin with the drilling of a pilot hole.

Drilling under the Wedzin Kwa (Morice River) appears to be imminent.

The Tyee reports that Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Chief Superintendent John Brewer sent an internal email on January 3, 2022, that stated: “CGL has drilling equipment en route from Edmonton to the Marten FSR [forest service road].”

That email also noted that a police action was “anticipated to occur around Jan. 10.”

That “police action” was called off when land defenders moved from the drill pad area. It would have been the fourth such action within three years to facilitate the construction of the Coastal GasLink (CGL) fracked gas pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory in northern British Columbia without free, prior and informed consent.

The Tyee article published on April 28 concludes: “Coastal GasLink responded to an email from The Tyee asking about when it plans to begin drilling under Wedzin Kwa by saying that preparation for microtunnelling is currently underway.”

Drilling imminent

APTN has also reported that Brewer wrote in December 2021 (after land defenders returned to the area after the November 2021 police raid) that: “This area has been undergoing preparation work for drilling under the river to start in February.”

Brewer added in that email: “CIRG [the RCMP’s so-called Community-Industry Response Group] will begin planning to remove any protestors at the site as soon as practicable.”

On February 6, 2022, the Terrace Standard also reported: “Coastal GasLink has resumed preparations to tunnel under the Morice River [Wedzin Kwa] south of Houston as construction of its natural gas pipeline from northeastern B.C. to the LNG Canada liquefied natural gas facility now underway at Kitimat continues.”

At that time, a CGL spokesperson stated: “There were limited activities over the holiday period, but preparation work has resumed over this past month. We expect that the micro-drilling will take place starting this spring.”

That article adds: “In preparation, a drilling company is getting ready to install a starting shaft which is a deep circulation excavation acting as an entry point on the east side of the Morice.”

The article also notes: “The active tunneling work is expected to take two and half to three months.”

It’s not clear if Coastal GasLink will be using bentonite, a clay-based drilling mud commonly used as a lubricant during trenchless drilling. If used, it’s also not clear how many tons of bentonite would be needed, nor how many truckloads would be required to transport the bentonite to the site.

The call for legal observers

Two weeks ago, Gidimt’en Checkpoint tweeted: “Since March, RCMP have sent 6-8 officers into our village site, between 4-8 times each day, in order to harass & intimidate our elders, relatives & supporters.”

They have also tweeted: “Come to the yintah and be a legal observer! RCMP continue to harass our elders and supporters daily. They are now bringing in dog teams to intimidate and need to be held accountable.”

They further explain: “We require a rotating team of upwards of a dozen legal observers. Your time and ethical commitment are the most useful assets; necessary supplies and training will be provided by experienced movement members & legal support organizers.”

The application form is here.

We continue to follow this situation.