After not taking a side on the Kinder Morgan project, Burnaby’s business leaders have come out to say they “accept” the prime minister’s decision.
“The decision’s been made and we accept that and we move along,” president and CEO Paul Holden told the NOW. “We look forward to working with Kinder Morgan to find ways of helping local businesses maximize the benefits of this significant project while ensuring our concerns and all regulatory conditions are addressed.”
In a report released last year, the board of trade identified four key areas of concern it had with the twinning of the Trans Mountain pipeline, including emergency preparedness, financial benefits, liability and routing. The board was worried about the impact of seismic activity on the pipeline and tank farm, as well as the pipeline terminating in an urban setting.
“Our hope is that our concerns are still being heard, and obviously, a lot of those concerns were reflected in the conditions that were applied to the approval,” Holden said of the 157 conditions set out by the National Energy Board in May.
Holden added the board will now be looking to see if Kinder Morgan will meet the NEB’s conditions and the province’s five conditions (regulatory approval, a world-leading marine spill response plan, a world-leading land response plan, indigenous participation and a fair share of benefits for British Columbia).
On Wednesday, Premier Christy Clark told reporters almost all conditions have been met and that “significant” progress has been made. She said B.C. still needs more details on the Trudeau’s new Oceans Protection Plan and there is still more work to do to ensure British Columbians get a fair share of the jobs and benefits from the project.
Clark said she expects all conditions to be met before the next provincial election in May.
