Kinder Morgan, Burnaby clash at hearing for Trans Mountain pipeline project

Municipal permitting delays related to the $7.4-billion Trans Mountain pipeline expansion were due to the company’s incompetence, not political interference, the city of Burnaby told the National Energy Board Monday.

On the second day of hearings to consider a request by Kinder Morgan Canada Inc. to bypass compliance with the city’s bylaws so it can start the construction of the Edmonton-to-Burnaby pipeline expansion, Burnaby’s lawyer argued the Calgary-based pipeline company was so inexperienced with standard municipal procedures that its applications did not meet basic requirements.

“The frustration from Burnaby’s staff meets or exceeds the frustration experienced by Trans Mountain because the application simply wasn’t complete when it was put in,” Gregory McDade told the three-member NEB panel, chaired by David Hamilton.

The pipeline project is subject to the same rules as every other project and Trans Mountain should have known better, McDade said.

Indeed, the pipeline company even refused to take advice from municipal staff whose goal from Day 1 was to work toward approval, he said.

“It is our suspicion … that Trans Mountain was setting up this application (to the NEB) right from the beginning and never really tried to comply with all the reasonable requirements that Burnaby tried to put forward,” McDade argued.

Trans Mountain has asked the federal energy regulator to step in and allow it to bypass Burnaby’s bylaws so it can start work at its Burnaby Terminal and Westridge Marine Terminal to accommodate more oil storage and more tankers.

The company said the municipality, a staunch project opponent, has been using stalling tactics to delay it.

The firm said it would still follow the spirit of the bylaws, but can no longer wait for Burnaby to issue permits. Six months after applying for them, it said it has yet to receive a single one and remains in the dark about what it’s required to do.

Maureen Killoran, Trans Mountain’s lawyer, said Burnaby did find every possible excuse to avoid issuing permits, such as saying its staff was too busy, requesting time-consuming unnecessary studies, duplicating information requests, refusing to provide timelines.

The NEB panel is expected to quickly hand down a decision on Trans Mountain’s request.