While the National Energy Board is deciding whether to override Burnaby’s bylaws, the public relations battle over the Burnaby Mountain conflict is raging on.
In response to Kinder Morgan’s recent letter to Westridge residents, Mayor Derek Corrigan sent out his own letter, taking issue with several statements the company has made in relation to the proposed pipeline expansion.
“Burnaby opposes this project, regardless of where Kinder Morgan proposes to put the pipeline,” Corrigan wrote in bold italics. “It is not a facility we want. We will continue to work with our citizens to stop this pipeline, its storage tanks and its supertanker transport docks from coming to Burnaby.”
In the four-page Oct. 10 letter, Corrigan criticizes many things, including the company’s characterization of the expansion as “twinning” since 90 per cent of the pipeline route in Burnaby would go through new territory. Corrigan also pointed out that Kinder Morgan is a Houston-based multinational energy company that bought the Trans Mountain pipeline in 2005. The company often states that the pipeline has been operating safely since 1953, but Corrigan raised the spectre of the 2007 pipeline rupture, which coated Westridge homes with crude.
The letter was hand-delivered to Westridge and Forest Grove residents on Monday, Oct. 13. Kinder Morgan responded by criticizing the mayor’s credibility.
"This letter is a continuation of Mayor Corrigan's stated opposition to our expansion project, however it is unfortunate he has chosen to misrepresent the facts,” wrote Lizette Parsons Bell, a spokesperson for the expansion project, in an emailed statement to the NOW. “We are committed to continuing our efforts to engage with our neighbours and those interested in the project openly and constructively and encourage dialogue based in the facts."
To read the full letters from Kinder Morgan and Corrigan, go to Jennifer Moreau’s blog, Community Conversations, at www.burnabynow.com.
