B.C. municipalities, residents line up at NEB hearings to oppose pipeline

Municipalities and residents in British Columbia are set to argue the proposed route of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion would damage sensitive ecosystems, harm parks and trails, and adversely affect homeowners.

The National Energy Board will hold hearings starting Monday on the route that would run through Burnaby, Coquitlam and north Surrey. Burnaby is a major opponent of the project and has publicly battled Calgary-based Kinder Morgan Canada.

Burnaby will present for three days at the hearings, saying in a statement it will demonstrate the “significant and unacceptable” financial, environmental and social risks of the company’s proposed route through the city.

“Because of the damage and disruption it would cause to the city and Metro Vancouver’s environment, economy and neighbourhoods — in perpetuity — the City of Burnaby is determined to ensure that this route is never approved,” Mayor Derek Corrigan said.

The federal government approved the 1,147-kilometre pipeline project in November 2016 along a roughly 150-metre wide corridor. The detailed route approval process will determine the exact placement of the new pipeline.

People who anticipated their lands may be adversely affected by the route were able to file statements of opposition. The National Energy Board began holding hearings on the route in late November and has approved some segments in eastern B.C. and Alberta.

The hearings starting Monday cover a hotly contested Metro Vancouver portion of the route. Several residents and a land-surveying company are scheduled to speak at a Burnaby hotel over eight days, before a second set of hearings is held in March.

In documents filed with the energy board, Burnaby says the proposed route passes through conservation areas and parks that provide critical green space and extensive trail systems to the public. Significant amounts of trees and vegetation would be removed, and sensitive creek and river ecosystems would be affected, the city says.

The existing Trans Mountain pipeline has carried oil from near Edmonton to a marine terminal in Burnaby since 1953. The company tried to double the new line with the existing pipeline where possible, but in Burnaby, the old line runs beneath neighbourhoods and city streets, said spokeswoman Ali Hounsell.

“Throughout the Lower Mainland, the cities have kind of grown up around the pipeline,” Hounsell said. “In some cases ... it’s actually less impactful to go through areas that are not where the existing pipeline is.”

However, the proposed route does run along municipal roads in Coquitlam. The city says in documents filed with the energy board that the route will negatively affect municipal operations and potentially incur millions of additional costs for routine operations, maintenance and rehabilitation work.

Hounsell noted that the federal government’s approval came with 157 conditions, including that the company create environmental protection plans and minimize effects in sensitive areas.