Mass of protesters greets Northern Gateway pipeline hearings in Vancouver

Protesters march against Enbridge hearing in Vancouver, Jan 14, 2013.

By Mike Hager, Vancouver Sun, January 14, 2013

VANCOUVER — Making as much noise as they could to protest a process they say is undemocratic, several hundred activists from a broad spectrum of movements rallied Monday night against the first of Vancouver’s public hearings into Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline.

B.C. municipalities reject oil tanker expansion

CBC News, The Canadian Press, Sept 27, 2012

Municipal politicians have approved a resolution that rejects the expansion of oil tanker traffic through British Columbia coastal waters, but only by the narrowest of margins.

Delegates attending the annual Union of B.C. Municipalities convention voted 51 per cent in favour of a resolution to oppose projects leading to expanded oil tanker traffic.

Opposition to Trans Mountain pipeline nearing Northern Gateway levels

Nathan VanderKlippe, The Globe and Mail, Tuesday, Sep. 18 2012

In 2007, Kinder Morgan’s TransMountain pipeline ruptured in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby, sending toxic oil into streets and homes.

Once a little-known factor in plans to carry oil to Canada’s West Coast, expansion of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline now faces a level of public opposition almost as high as Enbridge Inc.’s controversial Northern Gateway project.

A new poll finds that 60.3 per cent of British Columbians surveyed are against Gateway, while 49.9 per cent oppose the twinning of the Trans Mountain system, a half-century-old pipe that already carries substantial volumes of Alberta oil to Burnaby, B.C.

First Nations canoeists protest pipeline twinning

CBC News, Sept 1, 2012

Dozens of paddlers in First Nations canoes took to the water Saturday to protest the twinning of the Kinder Morgan pipeline, a project which proposes to dramatically increase crude oil shipments from Alberta to Burnaby.

Trans Mountain: The other Pacific pipeline

NATHAN VANDERKLIPPE, The Globe and Mail, Aug. 04, 2012

Oil tanker prepares to fill up with Alberta Tar Sands oil at Burrard Inlet refinery.

It is a sunny Sunday and Vancouver is doing what it does best: looking pretty and post-industrial. Morning lights up the downtown’s glass horizon. A half-dozen scooters rip down the road in a platoon. Cyclists swish past Zipcar lots, kayakers and stand-up paddle surfers ply the waters.

Oil, Pipelines, and First Nations: When Ecological and Economic Interests Collide

by Luis Fernando Arce, Arbitrage Magazine, June 29, 2012

Although for the latter half of this decade there have been three major pipeline companies transporting bitumen from the Tar Sands in Alberta and proposing expansions to their current pipeline-routes, most people have probably heard more about only two, if they’ve heard anything about the third at all.

Trans-Canada currently finds its Keystone XL expansion project blocked in the United States, greatly due to the uprising that took place in Washington D.C. last summer (2011), where over 1200 people including environmentalists, scientists, First Nations leaders, writers and other citizens were arrested. Enbridge’s Gateway Project is facing a similar fate here in Canada due to the opposition to it from similar groups who cite a rather poor safety record (800 spills between 1999 and 2010). These two companies and the development of their respective proposals have been covered by the media for many years now.

Kinder Morgan’s Burnaby pipeline path revealed

By Jennifer moreau, Burnaby Now, May 25, 2012

Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline and proposed expansion brings Tar Sands oil to Burrard Inlet refinery, where it is shipped out on oil tankers.

Burnaby-Douglas MP Kennedy Stewart has released a map outlining the path of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline, which runs beneath Burnaby backyards and major roadways.   A PDF of the map can be viewed here: Kinder Morgan Transmountain GVRD map

Transmountain: Same pipeline, new realities‏

Claudia Cattaneo, National Post, Apr 27, 2012

A section of Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline under construction in 2011.

In 2008, Kinder Morgan Canada added 75,000 barrels of capacity to its Trans Mountain pipeline from Edmonton to Vancouver at a cost of $750-million, which included 13 new pump stations, twinning the system through Jasper National Park in Alberta and Mount Robson Provincial Park in British Columbia.
It faced little opposition, completed its regulatory hearing within a week, and provided contracting and employment to the Aseniwuche Winewak and Simpcw First Nations and the Alberta Metis Zone IV community.
When the project was completed, the Town of Jasper and the Village of Valemount thanked Kinder Morgan Canada for the opportunity.

Resistance fierce as oil sands battle shifts to British Columbia

Claudia Cattaneo, Financial Post,  Apr 25, 2012

VICTORIA — During the past few months, the main front in the fight against development of the Alberta-based oil sands has moved to British Columbia. It’s a situation the western-most province is uncomfortable with and an expansion it’s unmotivated to defend.

The aggressive push by the oil sands industry and the Alberta and federal governments to open a new market for Canadian oil through shipments from the West Coast has been met by equally forceful resistance starting at the Alberta-B.C. border.

Anger has escalated since the start of public hearings in January into the Northern Gateway pipeline, proposed by Calgary-based Enbridge Inc., interrupting years of friendly relations between the neighbouring provinces, particularly on energy development.

Interior First Nations refuse to deal with Kinder Morgan on pipeline expansion‏

By Mike Youds, Kamloops Daily News, April 17, 2012

Three area First Nations are telling Kinder Morgan they will not deal with the energy company even as it plans to consult with them over a proposed $5-billion twinning of Trans Mountain pipeline.

Kinder Morgan's planned expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline/

Whispering Pines, Coldwater and Lower Nicola Indian bands issued a joint statement Tuesday, expressing frustration over past dealings with the company. They said Kinder Morgan Canada does not have a permit to operate the oil pipeline on their reserves and expressed frustration over failed efforts to meet with company president Ian Anderson.