transmountianpipeline(The Canadian Press) The BC government’s final submission to the National Energy Board says it is unable to support Kinder Morgan’s proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. Environment Minister Mary Polak says the company has not provided enough information about its proposed plans to double the pipeline to prevent or respond to oil spills in the ocean or on land. Polak says the lack of information means the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project has not met all of the five conditions the province has established for any new heavy-oil pipeline.
The minister says the province has submitted its final written assessment to the NEB, but it continues to evaluate the project. The multibillion-dollar project would nearly triple the capacity of the existing pipeline that runs from a community near Edmonton to the Vancouver area, and does run through the Fraser Valley.
The energy board is hearing oral summary arguments from interveners starting later this month and is scheduled to make its recommendations to the federal cabinet in May.