Trans Mountain pipeline expansion not supported by B.C. government

Kinder Morgan project doesn’t provide an adequate plan to prevent or respond to oil spills, province says

CBC News, Jan 11, 2016

The B.C. government says it can’t support the proposed $6.8-billion expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline from Alberta to Burnaby.

In a written statement to the National Energy Board, the Ministry of Environment said the pipeline’s proponent Kinder Morgan has not provided an adequate plan to prevent or respond to an oil spill.

“During the course of the NEB review, the company has not provided enough information around its proposed spill prevention and response for the province to determine if it would use a world-leading spills regime,” the statement said.

“Because of this the province is unable to support the project at this time, based on the evidence submitted.”

If approved, the Trans Mountain expansion project would twin the 60-year-old pipeline, which runs 1,150-kilometre from the Alberta oilsands to a tankership terminal in Burnaby.

In the written submission, the ministry noted that it laid out five conditions the project would have to meet before it would be permitted in the province.

Those conditions included:

• Successful completion of the environmental review process.
• World-leading marine oil spill response, prevention and recovery systems for B.C.’s coastline and ocean to manage and mitigate the risks and costs of heavy-oil pipelines and shipments.
• World-leading practices for land oil spill prevention, response and recovery systems to manage and mitigate the risks and costs of heavy- oil pipelines.
• Legal requirements regarding Aboriginal and treaty rights are addressed, and First Nations are provided with the opportunities, information and resources necessary to participate in and benefit from a heavy-oil project.
• British Columbia receives a fair share of the fiscal and economic benefits of a proposed heavy-oil project that reflect the level, degree and nature of the risk borne by the province, the environment and taxpayers.

The project is awaiting approval from the National Energy Board, which expects to make a recommendation to the federal government by May.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/trans-mountain-pipeline-expansion-not-supported-by-b-c-government-1.3398689