British Columbia has announced it opposes the expansion of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain oil pipeline over concerns for safety and the environment in the event of spills.
The provincial government was making its objections formal to Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) on Monday.
Essentially the planned expansion would see Kinder Morgan twinning its pipelines between the Alberta oil sands and the terminal at Burnaby, near Vancouver, in BC.
It’s projected impact on volume could mean as much as a sevenfold increase in tanker traffic.
The BC government’s opposition to the plan is because Kinder Morgan’s proposed spill prevention and response plans do not meet the stringent standards required by the province.
The NEB must make recommendations to Canada’s federal cabinet by May 20 with the final decision being made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.
Trudeau’s Liberal Party won a general election by a landslide in October. While Trudeau supports the Keystone Pipeline he and his party are expected to be less accommodating to the energy industry than the previous Conservative government of Stephen Harper.
