Kinder Morgan has filed a project description with the National Energy Board as part of its expansion plan for the Trans Mountain pipeline, but local residents will have to wait till June 27 for details on routing options.
Kinder Morgan wants to twin the line that runs oil from Alberta to the West Coast, and the project description is a preliminary step the company must make before filing its facilities application, which is expected later this year. The project description, which is more than 100 pages, details what Kinder Morgan is planning to build, but does not include details on how and where exactly, and much of the information covered is already publicly known.
Kinder Morgan has not yet determined routing for the new pipeline in any community and is still seeking public feedback.
"Burnaby community pages with maps will be available online at the end of June," said Lisa Clement, a spokesperson for the expansion project. "We will be asking the public to provide feedback on routing, environment and land use. Routing has not been determined in any community, and we are still seeking feedback. We are rolling out route options over the next few weeks, moving down the line."
Clement said the company is still studying the route corridor.
"Since we announced the expansion project in April 2012, we planned to twin the existing line along the right-of-way where practical. The land in Burnaby looks much different than it did in 1953, when the existing line was first built. Our ongoing study of the route corridor, along with asking for feedback from the municipalities, as well as the public, will determine the route with the least impact to urban areas," she wrote in an email to the NOW.
The application will include details on the proposed route, and it's the file the board will review while deciding whether or not to approve the project.
Kinder Morgan's 1,150-kilometre line has been in operation since the 1950s, but the company wants to twin the line and expand capacity from 300,000 barrels of oil per day to 890,000, bringing an estimated 408 tankers to the Burrard Inlet per year. Kinder Morgan's storage tanks and the Westridge Marine Terminal, where tankers fill up with crude, are both in Burnaby, and the existing pipeline runs close to some local homes and schools.
In a cover letter sent to the board, Kinder Morgan notes it's not clear if the project would be subject to environmental review because most of the new pipeline will be adjacent to the existing one, but the company is arguing for one anyway, given the level of public interest in the project.
Kinder Morgan plans to post more information on local route options at talk. transmountain.com/burnaby by June 27.
To see the project description, go to the National Energy Board website, bit. ly/12UMCOE, and click on Fetch to download the documents. For more details, go to Jennifer Moreau's blog at www.burn abynow.com.
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