IntroductionThe $5.5 billion Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline Project would include two pipelines: one carrying oil westbound from Bruderheim, Alberta, to the port of Kitimat, British Columbia, from where it would be shipped to international markets in Asia and the northwest United States; and another carrying imported natural gas condensate in the opposite direction. Condensate is a toxic mixture of liquid hydrocarbons that forms during the extraction of natural gas and is used as a fluidizing agent to dilute and facilitate the transportation of heavy oils like bitumen. The Northern Gateway would have the capacity to transport 525,000 barrels of oil per day. . The project would be developed by Enbridge Inc., a Canadian crude oil and liquids pipeline company. The majority of the pipeline would be buried underground, except for a few stream crossings where it is deemed safer to run the pipes above water. Enbridge says the pipeline and terminal, if completed, would create 104 permanent operating positions within the company and 113 positions in associated marine services. First Nations groups, environmentalists and tar sands opponents, among others, denounce the project because of the environmental consequences. , the economic, social and cultural risks posed by the pipeline. Supporters argue the pipeline would instead provide Indigenous groups with equity ownership, training, employment, community trust and stewardship programs. The proposal was heavily criticized by indigenous groups. Groups like the Yinka Dene Alliance have organized to campaign against the project. In December 2010, 66 British Columbia First Nations bands, including several along the proposed pipeline route, signed the Save The Protected Area...... middle of paper ....... As the bitumen can leak into water, a cleanup would be "very difficult," the three environmental groups say, and Canadian pipeline regulations do not specifically address the transportation of bitumen. Other critics say exporting tar sands oil rather than refining it in Canada also amounts to exporting jobs. s FutureTo build or not to build? With factors on both sides reiterating the idea that this is not an easy situation to resolve. Is it worth getting approval from British Columbia to build the pipeline, when it assumes 100 percent of the port risk and 58 percent of the land pipeline risk? Can we put a monetary value on the integrity of British Columbia? How much money would it make by assuming the unjustified risk of an oil spill and devastation of one of the most beautiful temperate rainforests on the planet? 1 billion dollars? 5 billion dollars? 100 billion dollars?