Canada police renew plea for help in bombing probe

By Allan Dowd

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Police acknowledged on Wednesday they do not have a prime suspect in their investigation into three natural gas pipeline bombings in in Western Canada and renewed calls for the public's help.

Investigators made public an angry letter believed linked to the October bombings and are trying to find eight people who mailed letters from the same drugstore in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, that the suspect note was was mailed from.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police even took the unusual step of launching a dedicated website, www.dawsoncreekbombings.com, with information they hope will generate tips on who is responsible for the attacks.

Police believe the saboteur, or saboteurs, lives in the same area of northeastern British Columbia where the three attacks occurred, and believe the person has a grievance against pipeline owner EnCana Corp (ECA.TO).

"So far, there has been excellent co-operation from the community regarding this investigation. However, there have been some individuals who have been less than forthcoming and somewhat unco-operative," police said in a statement.

There have been no injuries in the bombings, but two caused small gas leaks. All the attacks occurred in the middle of the night at facilities in remote rural areas near the British Columbia-Alberta border.

EnCana also released a statement on Wednesday saying it does not believe the attacks were intended to to kill anyone, but it warned that could happen by accident if the incidents continue.

The first attack, on Oct. 12, came shortly after a handwritten letter was mailed to newspapers in Dawson Creek and Chetwynd, British Columbia, and to EnCana, warning the company and other energy producers to close down their operations by Oct. 11.

"We will not negotiate with terrorists which you are as you keep on endangering our families with crazy expansion of crazy gas wells in our home lands," the letter read.

The attacked facilities were all involved in the production of sour gas, which contains toxic hydrogen sulfide, which is removed at a processing plant near Tomslake, British Columbia, before the gas is shipped to market.

The letter refers specifically to that processing facility, although it misspells the community's name as "Tom's Lake."

The letter's contents had already been reported by the media, but this was first time police had released a copy of the note.

There were no attacks in November and security at energy facilities has been increased. The RCMP investigation includes members of the country's national anti-terrorism squad. (Reporting Allan Dowd, editing by Rob Wilson)