Gas stations are now a front in the battle against pipelines.
Three Chevron outlets in Vancouver and one in Burnaby were hit last month by saboteurs who disabled fuel pumps. No group or individual has claimed responsibility, but an anonymous, anti-pipeline YouTube video said 80 pumps at four stations were shut down and it showed highlights from one incident. A link to the video was spread via Twitter using the #EvictChevron hashtag.
Adrien Byrne, Chevron’s policy, government and public affairs representative, told the Courier affected Vancouver retail locations were at First Avenue and Nanaimo Street and Grandview Highway and Renfrew Street and the commercial card lock at First Avenue and Clark Drive, along with a retail location at Boundary Road and Dominion Street in Burnaby.
“On the morning of Aug. 21, bicycle locks were used to prevent the use of gasoline and diesel pump dispensers at affected facilities in Vancouver,” Byrne wrote. “Chevron cannot speculate on the rationale behind this activity and our first priority has been to ensure the safe and ongoing operations of each site. Chevron has been in contact with the RCMP and [Vancouver Police Department] and will be monitoring any ongoing activity that may develop.”
The three-minute, 21-second clip includes excerpts from videos about the Unist’ot’en aboriginal protest camp near Smithers and alleged pollution of the Ecuadorian Amazon by Chevron subsidiary Texaco.
Unist’ot’en has vowed to block construction of the Pacific Trail Pipeline, Chevron’s proposed 463-kilometre project to carry natural gas from north of Prince George to its proposed LNG plant in Kitimat.
At the 2:28 minute mark, the video cuts to footage of individuals in dark clothing, sunglasses, construction safety vests and masks covering their mouths and noses. Two of them remove hoses from fuel dispensers, place them on the ground and wrap them with chains and bike locks. The scene appears to be the Chevron at Grandview Highway and Renfrew Street.
The video cuts to a person scaling a fence behind the Chevron at Main Street and E. 12th Avenue as two others dressed similarly await. The trio heads north on the alleyway at dusk and the video fades to black under the #EvictChevron hashtag.
VPD Const. Brian Montague confirmed the reports for the Vancouver locations, but said there was no report of an incident at the Main and 12th Chevron.
Recent protests against resource extraction have been organized around opposition to coal and oil, but on Nov. 3, anti-fracking protesters set-up a mock rig on the front lawn of Premier Christy Clark’s Mount Pleasant house. On May 30, three activists chained and locked themselves to the fence at the Chevron refinery in Burnaby to protest the Pacific Trail Pipeline.
On June 3, VPD raided an East Vancouver house as part of an investigation into the spate of “No Pipelines” graffiti around the city.
