The provincial government has officially come out against Kinder Morgan’s pipeline expansion, citing a lack of information about oil spill response capabilities.
The news came Monday, when the province filed its final argument in the National Energy Board pipeline hearings.
In the conclusion, the province acknowledges the $100-million plan Kinder Morgan has to augment the spill response capabilities of Western Canada Marine Response Corporation, the company tasked with cleaning up oil spills on the West Coast. The plan includes a two-hour response time for spills in the Port of Vancouver, but the province claims Kinder Morgan failed to supply sufficient evidence on how a major spill would be addressed.
“That is, no marine spill response plans, or other detailed information, have been put on the record to show the means by which a marine spill would be responded to,” the province stated. “In the absence of this information, the province is not satisfied that a ‘world-class’ marine spill response capability will in fact be in place.”
A world-class oil spill response plan is one of five conditions Kinder Morgan must meet to secure support from B.C. Kinder Morgan declined to comment, as the company is releasing a statement in response shortly.
NEB spokesperson Tara O’Donovan said the board will look at B.C.’s argument and consider whether Kinder Morgan has presented enough information on oil spill response.
“We’re always going to make them demonstrate to use how they’ve planned for any potential emergencies,” she said. “That is part of the test for approval.”
The Trans Mountain pipeline terminus is in Burnaby. It's the only line that runs oil from Alberta to the B.C. Coast. Kinder Morgan wants to install a twin line, which would increase shipping volume from 300,000 barrels of oil per day to 890,000. Tanker traffic in the Burrard Inlet would grow from roughly five tankers a month to 34.
