Mayor Corrigan receives Blue Communities award from Council of Canadians activist Elsie Dean and Elizabeth Briemberg, CUPE Water Watch coordinator Robin Jane Roff.
Burnaby Now reports, “Mayor Derek Corrigan is raising concerns about consultation in respect to Kinder Morgan’s plan to expand the Trans Mountain pipeline, which runs oil from Alberta to Burnaby. …(He said) ‘The idea is this is all about money, it’s about the sale of Alberta oil, it’s about the government getting taxes, and in their view this is in the national interest, and the concerns of people in Burnaby or North Van or Vancouver don’t matter a hill of beans compared to what we see to be large economic interests of the multinational corporations who want access to this oil’. …Corrigan said residents will also have concerns, especially given the 2007 rupture of Kinder Morgan’s pipeline in the Burnaby’s Westridge neighbourhood, which sprayed nearby homes with crude oil after a contractor struck the line.”
“Kinder Morgan recently announced that plans to twin the 1,150-kilometre line are moving forward, following a successful ‘open season’ process, where shippers agreed to long-term binding contracts in the event of expansion. The company is still working on the project’s details and needs National Energy Board approval before going ahead, but there is talk of expanding the Westridge Marine Terminal, where tankers fill up with crude for overseas markets. …Roughly 90 per cent of gas in the Lower Mainland comes from oil sent down the Trans Mountain pipeline, which has a maximum capacity of 300,000 barrels per day. If the line is fully twinned, capacity could grow to 700,000 barrels, and there would be increased tanker traffic in the Burrard Inlet as Asian demand for Canadian crude rises.”
Vancouver’s primary port area is located in the Burrard Inlet. Burnaby is located just south-east of its Central Harbour, while North Vancouver is just north of its Inner Harbour. Downtown Vancouver and Stanley Park form a boundary between the Outer Harbour and the Inner Habour of Burrard Inlet.
The article notes, “Kinder Morgan spokesperson Lexa Hobenshield said the public will have a say. ‘With respect to public consultation, and other aspects related to preparing a regulatory application, the process will take 18 months or more. During that time, we anticipate engaging the residents of Burnaby and others interested in expansion. There will be opportunities to obtain more information, ask questions and provide feedback. We have not yet set venues or specific dates and times,’ she said.”
The City of Vancouver also recently debated requesting that Kinder Morgan consult with them about their pipeline expansion plans, http://canadians.org/blog/?p=13764.
