How do pipeline spills impact property values? That's the focus of a new report released by CRED B.C., a non-profit business organization concerned about the economic impacts of pipelines on the West Coast.
The report, released today (Dec. 9) suggests an oil spill, on the coast or in the Burrard Inlet, could decrease property values and cost jobs in the real estate sector.
The report was based on academic research on eight oil spills in the U.S. and Canada, including the infamous 2007 Burnaby pipeline rupture, where 250,000 litres of oil escaped, 11 local homes were coated in crude and 250 residents voluntarily left their homes.
According to the report's key findings, several documented cases show that directly impacted properties lost 10 to 40 per cent of their value following an oil spill. Even properties that were simply near spills and not directly impacted saw a five to eight per cent reduction in value, according to the report. The impacts are most acutely seen in the first year following a spill and last for about five years, according to CRED B.C.
As for the 2007 Burnaby pipeline rupture, there has been no research on the impact on property values, according to the report.
Kinder Morgan is hoping to twin the Trans Mountain pipeline, increasing Alberta oil shipments from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels per day. The proposed project also includes plans to expand the storage tank facility on Burnaby Mountain and the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, where tankers fill up with crude.
In an emailed statement to the NOW, Lizette Parsons Bell, a spokesperson for the Trans Mountain expansion, said people have been living near the pipeline for decades.
"Hundreds if not thousands of people have chosen to buy or build near the pipeline. That said, we know that people do have concerns about land devaluation, we've heard that too. It is important to remember that more than 75 per cent of the pipeline will follow the existing right-of-way, where the pipeline has been in place for 60 years and most of the properties have been bought and sold over the years with the easement disclosure. More than 15 per cent of the proposed expanded pipeline will follow utility corridors or other infrastructure," she wrote.
Alan Dutton, a spokesperson for Burnaby Residents Opposing Kinder Morgan Expansion, said there were concerns beyond those addressed in CRED B.C.'s report, like noise, environmental pollution and lighting when the tankers are being worked on at the Westridge terminal.
"Who's monitoring that," asked Dutton. "And it's going to get a lot worse in my view if the berths are expanded to three from one."
What do you think? Do you have concerns about your property decreasing in value because of the Kinder Morgan expansion? Let us know in the comments section below.
