News hoax misleads public on false Enbridge initiative
A campaign to collect hair from salons to be used to soak up spilled oil is not in fact an Enbridge initiative, the company said Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning, media were circulated a news release that bears an Enbridge Northern Gateway logo and announces a partnership with hair salons for a "MyHairCares" initiative.
The release said the company is soliciting hair from over 1,000 salons to be used to make "super-absorbent oil clean-up booms."
"The formidable Enbridge hair reserve, fashioned into 30,000 4-metre booms, will be stored in numerous warehouses all along the Northern Gateway Pipelines' 1,170-kilometre route," the release continues.
Suspicions on the veracity of the release were put to rest when Enbridge spokesperson Gina Jordan made clear the whole thing was a hoax.
"It is not an Enbridge or Northern Gateway initiative, and Enbridge deplores this cynical attempt to take advantage of public concern about the environment," said Jordan.
She continued, "Instead of working towards an informed understanding of the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline project, the perpetrators of this unethical campaign have trivialized last year’s tragic event in the Gulf of Mexico, where 11 people perished, for their own selfish purposes in a misguided attack on Enbridge’s reputation."
Countering a claim from a supposed Northern Gateway spokesperson in the hoax release, Jordan said that oil spills are not inevitable, "and while the probability is remote, Enbridge's goal is to be a model of world class safety and environmental standards."
It is not entirely clear who the perpetrator of the hoax is, however Greenpeace co-founder Rex Weyler issued a news statement shortly afterwards denouncing the hair initiative. saying Enbridge should "trim their project not the hair of the nation to make British Columbians feel safer."
Whoever is to blame, Enbridge is mulling their options as to how to proceed next.
"Enbridge will vigorously defend its reputation, and is considering an appropriate legal response to this media campaign attack," said Jordan.
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