TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The Coastal First Nations alliance last week aired a television commercial warning British Columbians of the dangers and costs of bringing oil tankers to British Columbia's (BC's) pristine coastal waters.

The commercial opened with the original audio recording of the stricken oil tanker Exxon Valdez’s captain radio calling the coast guard, with the First Nations saying 80% of British Columbians supported banning oil tankers in coastal waters.

"We thought it was appropriate to release the commercial on the 24^th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. The Coastal First Nations have banned oil tankers from our traditional territories in the Great Bear Rainforest, and we have invested more than $300-million dollars over the past decade to establish a sustainable economy on the coast," Coastal First Nations executive director Art Sterritt said in a statement.

The commercial was aired in response to energy provider Enbridge’s Northern Gateway project, which is a proposed 1 176 km twin pipeline system and marine terminal. The proposed project, currently under regulatory review, would transport 525 000 bbl/d of oil for export and import 193 000 bbl/d of condensate.

The project enjoyed apparent federal support, owing to the government aiming to strategically diversify its energy trading partners across the Pacific Ocean, and provide a transport route for the Alberta oil sands.

Sterritt added a lot of people did not realise that taxpayers would be left paying upwards of $21.4-billion dollars if an oil spill happened.

“Each tanker is owned and operated by a small holding company to limit financial liability. Taxpayers are left holding the bag, and our communities are left with a permanently polluted environment,” Sterritt added.

The two-minute commercial, which was airing on television stations in Northern BC, as well as on social media, was reportedly given a helping hand by iconic singer-songwriter, Paul Simon, of the duo Simon & Garfunkel, whose label granted the music licence for a small honorarium.

"It's an honour to use Paul Simon's famous song, ‘The Sound of Silence’, to help remind British Columbians of the danger of oil tankers. An oil spill is the sound of silence. It silences communities, it silences cultures and it silences wildlife,” Sterritt said.