Manitoba energy coalition joins fight against Energy East pipeline

The Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition has joined thechorus of voices opposingtheEnergy East pipeline in the province.

TransCanada has proposed a 4,600-kilometre pipeline from Alberta to Quebec and New Brunswick that would transport about 1.1 million barrels of crude daily.

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The project would repurpose a 40-year-old natural gas pipeline that runs right by Shoal Lake, on the Manitoba-Ontario border. Shoal Lake supplies drinking water to Winnipeg.

On Monday, the coalition released a report on the potential impacts of the pipeline.

The report says the pipeline crosses waterways and travels within "spill reach" of the entire Winnipeg aqueduct.

Officials with the coalition called on the Province of Manitoba to reject the application to convert the pipeline.

They said it poses a threat to Winnipeg's water supply because it crosses waterways and is within "spill reach" of the channels used to transport the city's water.

The report said a spill "will occur in the future" and "any breach of the line near Winnipeg could reach the Red River via the LaSalle, Seine or Assiniboine River drainage basins."

Officials with the coalition also said the gas pipeline is too old to be converted to oil, and it wasn't built to carry bitumen.