It was a close race, but the Kinder Morgan pipeline proposal prevailed as our readers’ top choice for story of the year.
Of the 155 people who voted in our online poll, the pipeline debate earned 45 per cent of the vote.
The proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion has been making local (and sometimes national) headlines for well over a year. On Dec. 16, the company finally filed its application with the National Energy Board, triggering the start of the official review process.
It’s no surprise the pipeline debate is top of mind for Burnaby NOW readers. If the project is approved, it could drastically alter the Lower Mainland, turning the Burrard Inlet into a major oil exporting port. The pipeline’s terminus is in Burnaby, and the tank farm facility on Burnaby Mountain and the Westridge Marine Terminal would also have to be expanded. Kinder Morgan wants to nearly triple capacity on the pipeline, which would also increase tanker traffic from five to 34 vessels per month.
While some Burnaby residents are understandably nervous about the proposal – remember the 2007 rupture that left several local homes coated with crude? – others are staunchly opposed. Greenpeace activists chained themselves to the company’s Westridge Marine Terminal this past October, and the city is home to the Burnaby Residents Opposing Kinder Morgan Expansion, a grassroots residents’ group against the project.
Kinder Morgan has been running a tight PR campaign, touting the benefits of the expansion, but one thing’s for sure: the company will face opposition from local residents and the City of Burnaby, which is planning to apply for intervenor status in the National Energy Board hearing.
The runner up for the readers’ choice was Burnaby’s development boom, which will very likely change the face of the city.
The development issue came in close second, with 43 per cent of the vote. TransLink came in a distant third, with only six per cent of the vote, trailed by the rogue dentist story (four per cent), and the animal bylaw brouhaha was a dead last at three per cent.
While our poll is non-scientific, the last place winner was a bit surprising for the NOW editorial team, as we chose the animal bylaw issue as the top story. This hot-button issue generated considerable letters to our paper and attendance at city hall meetings (see our story on page 1).
Perhaps it goes to show that a loud and vocal group can make a news story seem bigger than it actually is.
As for your top two choices, we are sure development and the pipeline will be supplying us with many stories in the years to come.
