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Board of trade will keep an eye on pipeline issue

Burnaby’s business leaders have a hefty amount of reading to do following the National Energy Board’s decision to recommend approval of Kinder Morgan’s plan to twin the existing Trans Mountain pipeline.
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After nine months of analysis, the Burnaby Board of Trade has released its review of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, raising concerns with environmental safety, tax revenue and communication.

Burnaby’s business leaders have a hefty amount of reading to do following the National Energy Board’s decision to recommend approval of Kinder Morgan’s plan to twin the existing Trans Mountain pipeline.

In a statement to the NOW, Paul Holden, president and CEO of the Burnaby Board of Trade, said the business association agreed with the NEB that increasing access to Canada’s natural resources was in the country’s interest as it was responsible resource development.

However, in a report released last year, the board of trade identified four key areas of concern it had with Kinder Morgan’s proposed pipeline project, including emergency preparedness, financial benefits, routing and liability.

Holden reiterated these concerns in his recent statement, adding the board of trade will now review the NEB’s 533-page report and the 157 conditions that must be met by Kinder Morgan if the project were to be approved by the federal government.

“We will review the 157 conditions attached to the project to ensure adequate attention has been paid to the issues we raised and will monitor the approval process as it continues to see how Kinder Morgan plans to address both the NEB’s conditions and our own concerns,” Holden said.

The board of trade has not spoken for or against the proposed twinning of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline. 

It’s now up to the Liberal cabinet to decide whether or not the proposal to twin the existing Trans Mountain pipeline from Alberta to Burnaby will move ahead. The government’s decision is expected sometime in December.