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

Kinder Morgan is planning to twin the Trans Mountain, increasing capacity from 300,000 barrels a day to 750,000. The current line runs along the south side of Burnaby Mountain, through the Forest Grove area, and over to the Westridge Marine Terminal, but the twin line may not necessarily follow the existing right-of-way.

“This new map shows the current route of the Trans Mountain pipeline. More importantly, it gives residents a sense of where Kinder Morgan’s new pipeline expansion may occur,” said Stewart. “I think people will be surprised as to how close this major construction project is to homes, schools and parks.”

Stewart hired a private company to create the map based on public information.

“I asked Kinder Morgan for a map, and they weren’t prepared to give me a map,” he said.

The NOW also previously asked Kinder Morgan for a detailed pipeline map, but the company only provided a vague map with no road markings or landmarks.

Stewart said the expansion project will impact many homeowners and, in extreme cases, private land may be expropriated.

“With the Conservatives drastically changing the National Energy Board consultation process, I’m worried residents won’t get the information they need or even be allowed the opportunity to participate in official project planning process,” he said in a press release.

In a previous interview with the NOW, Kinder Morgan’s Lexa Hobenshield indicated that the route for the twin line may or may not follow the same right-of-way.

“In some urban areas, we may not be able to put a pipeline in our existing right-of-way because of urban infill, … but we’re not at any level of detail to know at this point,” she said. “The pipeline does run through some backyards in some locations.”

Stewart will be displaying the map at his Burnaby Heights office during Hats Off Day on Saturday, June 2. The office is at 4658 Hastings St.

Stewart will also mail the map to every household in his Burnaby-Douglas riding.

Kinder Morgan has not yet applied to the National Energy Board for project approval. The Trans Mountain pipeline system has been around for nearly six decades and supplies roughly 90 per cent of Lower Mainland gasoline.

http://www.burnabynow.com/news/Burnaby+pipeline+path+revealed/6681127/story.html