The Globe and Mail reports, “The B.C. NDP has taken a stand against the proposed Kinder Morgan oil pipeline expansion, saying an NDP government would throw up a roadblock to both of the plans to get Alberta oil to the coast for export.”
NDP leader Adrian Dix stated, “They are talking about an increase of five- or six-fold (in capacity) and I think that transforms Vancouver into a major oil export port. I don’t think people in Vancouver see that as the right way to go, and I don’t think that’s the right way to go.” According to the news report, Dix made these comments on the banks of the Thompson River in Kamloops – one of the junctions for the existing Kinder Morgan pipeline.
The Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline proposal involves twinning the existing Alberta-to-Metro Vancouver pipeline, which would add 550,000 barrels a day capacity to the current 300,000 barrels a day pipeline. It would service 25 to 30 tankers a month at the Westridge, Burnaby terminal. Kinder Morgan wants the pipeline to be operational by 2017. At 550,000 barrels a day, this pipeline is larger than the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline which would carry 525,000 barrels a day.
“Mr. Dix has already come out in opposition to the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline but until now, his party has been quiet on the Kinder Morgan proposal to twin an existing pipeline.”
The news report also notes, “He has said an NDP government would pull out of a pact with Ottawa that cedes the environmental approval process to the federal government. Pipeline proponents would then be allowed to apply under a provincial review process.”
Dix is widely expected to win the provincial election on May 14.