Protesters denounce oil pipeline port in Cacouna

About 300 peopleprotestedtoday to denounce the construction of a port inCacouna, near Rivire-du-Loup, for shipping oil from the Alberta tar sands.

Under the Energy East pipelineproject, theTransCanadacompanyhas already obtained the approval from Fisheries and Oceans Canada to conduct drilling in the marine area of Bas-Saint-Laurent.

About a dozen organizationsplanned the event, includingNature Qubec, Greenpeace and the Quebec Association Against Air Pollution.

They say they want bothOttawa and Quebec to furtheranalyze the project before allowing TransCanada to go forward.

Dangerous surveys, say protesters

TransCanada is currently conducting seismic surveys in theCacounamarine area to scan the seabed and identify where the port could be built.

This work would be carried out in May as belugasan endangered specieswill be breeding in this area of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Protesterssay that these geophysical surveys usedevices that emit harmful sounds for belugas.

• St. Lawrence belugas threatened by pipeline plans

TransCanadaspokesman Philippe Cannon said the company has all the right permits for the surveyand have staff watching belugas by the side of the rivers, as well as low-flying observation planes.

"Today, for example, because of the weather the optimal conditions weren't there for us to look at the beluga whales to be able to observe them and to be able to make sure that they were not within a perimeter of 500 meters. That is required within our permit so that's why no work was done this morning," said Cannon.

This preparatory work should allow the companyto clarify its application totheNational Energy Board.

The federal agency is responsible for evaluating theEnergy East pipeline, which will transport more than one million barrels of oil per day to New Brunswickthrough Quebec by 2018.

"People can make sure of one thing: that we have the beluga whales at heart," said Cannon.