Toronto Sun

CALGARY – An Enbridge initiative claiming to turn human hair into oil-absorbent booms turned out to be a hoax, the Calgary company behind the controversial northern gateway pipelines project confirmed Friday.

The fake initiative, dubbed MyHairCares, "is a hoax and makes light of a serious issue," said Enbridge spokeswoman Gina Jordan, noting the company "deplores this cynical attempt to take advantage of public concern about the environment."

Early Tuesday, the initiators of the hoax sent a press release, attributed to Greenpeace co-founder Rex Weyler, to newsrooms across the country.

The release contains quotes by Weyler, in which he voices his opposition to Enbridge's northern gateway pipe, a proposed project to ship oil from the oilsands to an export terminal in Kitimat, B.C.

Embedded in the press release was a link to a fake Enbridge website.

The site consisted of a press release that outlined how Enbridge wants to turn hair donations from more than 1,000 salons in North America into booms — river barriers — to absorb oil in the event of a spill.

“With your help, we can be prepared for an inevitable oil spill from our company's operations,” reads the release. “Collecting hair clippings from hundreds of salons helps take hair out of the waste stream, and puts it to good use. One pound of hair can absorb up to five pounds of oil!”

The release claims such booms were successfully used to help clean the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico last year.

To use the Gulf spill in this context, where 11 people died when an oil rig exploded, "is an unethical campaign," Jordan said.

markus.ermisch@sunmedia.ca