Coastal GasLink (CGL) says the eco-terorrists who rolled up on workers near Houston, BC disabled lighting and surveillance cameras prior to the attack, which took place on the Morice River Forest Service Road after midnight on Thursday..CGL confirms nine workers were attacked, all of whom fled for their safety. None suffered any injuries..RCMP says the number of attackers was roughly 20..While the company says surveillance cameras were disabled, some photo and video evidence has been turned over to RCMP, including two photos CGL has provided.. CGL-photo-1-Feb-17-2022-1Courtesy Coastal GasLink . CGL-photo-2-Feb-17-2022-1 .“Our people were terrorized during this violent incident. In the last 24 hours, I have had the opportunity to hear from our workforce, indigenous and community leaders, governments, and our partners, and all have expressed their outrage about this attack,” said Kent Wilfur, Vice President Project Delivery, CGL..“We are aware of reports that wrongly suggest that this attack was staged. We find these suggestions offensive and irresponsible as they only serve to re-traumatize the workers who experienced the violent attack.”.Despite being close enough to officers to hurl smoke bombs and fire-lit sticks, the attackers successfully fled the remote work camp — the only trace of them being a series of makeshift traps such as spikes protruding from boards, according to RCMP..The camp is roughly 60 km from Houston, BC and is only accessible by vehicle from the service road, however, many forest paths intertwine among the surrounding, dense landscape..The closest helicopter was stationed in Prince George, BC..Houston, BC’s RCMP detachment being small, with only a handful of officers, K9 support is not readily available..“We are calling for government to instruct the RCMP to increase security measures to ensure the safety of our members and all workers involved in the construction of the Coastal GasLink Project,” said Kevin Kohut, Provincial Director for CLAC..“We hold our members, our contractors, and CGL to the highest safety standards possible, and now we need the government to ensure sufficient and sustained law enforcement throughout this project.”.CGL claims there have been several incidents in recent weeks where “unknown people have used forest trails to access this construction site, disrupt activities by confronting and intimidating workers,” adding that the relationship between these events and Thursday’s attack is unknown..Reid Small is a BC-based reporter for the Western Standard.,rsmall@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/reidsmall
