Kinder Morgan's remediation work on Burnaby Mountain may have to wait till spring, when weather improves.
The company did some initial cleaning before leaving the mountain conservation area on Nov. 29, following exploratory drilling for a new pipeline route that led to a 10-day standoff with protesters.
Kinder Morgan is still planning to restore the work areas, but that will likely happen in spring when the weather is more accommodating, according to Lisa Clement, a media relations consultant with the expansion project.
"We cleaned the site up as a best as we could possible do under the conditions," Clement told the NOW. "We have no workers up there at all. There are some people who are camping up there still."
Dave Ellenwood, director of the Burnaby's parks department, said the city is assessing the damage and may be involved in remediation work, as well, but Kinder Morgan is obliged to restore the work sites.
"Our interest is to keep the park clean, restore it to its original condition, so that's progressively what we want to do," Ellenwood said. "We have to review the work. If it's not done properly, either we'll do it and recover the costs of that or we'll ask them to do it properly."
Ellenwood echoed Clement's comments about the weather.
"There's not much you can get done in weather like this. It's rainy and mucky. If you go in in weather like this, you probably do more harm that good," he said.
When city parks staff first went up to the mountain, protesters drove them away, thinking they were Kinder Morgan contractors. Since then, they've been on site, cleaning up garbage and talking to the people still there. About 10 people remain on the mountain, according to Ellenwood.
"The protest is gradually winding down, so we've been mainly monitoring and making sure people have access to the park, and cleaning up the garbage as per usual," he said.
Activists scheduled an event on the mountain for Thursday, Dec. 11 after NOW deadlines, where members of the public were encouraged to meet the Caretakers, the ad hoc group that's been camping close to Centennial Way.
Meanwhile, another round of information requests is underway with the company's NEB's hearing. Kinder Morgan has until Feb. 3 to answer questions from the NEB, which could include any queries about the Burnaby Mountain survey work submitted to the board. The deadline to answer questions from intervenors is Feb. 10.
Kinder Morgan undertook the Burnaby Mountain survey work after changing its pipeline route preference to the conservation area to avoid the residential Westridge neighbourhood. The NEB needed more information on the Burnaby Mountain route and requested Kinder Morgan complete and file survey work by Dec. 1 to determine if that option was feasible. The NEB expressed some concern that Kinder Morgan may not file enough information by Dec. 1, but Clement said if the NEB needs any additional information, the board can ask through the information request process.
