Leaky B.C. pipeline being quietly dealt with

Close up of KM’s Trans Mountain pipeline near Coquihalla Canyon
Close up of KM’s Trans Mountain pipeline near Coquihalla Canyon

News hasn’t been the only thing “leaking” this week for American pipeline giant Kinder Morgan. The energy company is reported to be in the process of quietly cleaning up some 5005 cubic meters of oil-contaminated soil from its Trans Mountain pipeline near Hope in lower mainland British Columbia, ancestral Sto:lo territory tracing back as far as 10,000 years.

While Kinder Morgan representative told the Vancouver Observer last week that there were “no Kinder Morgan-branded trucks” moving contaminated soil, National Energy Board NEB spokesperson Rebecca Taylor has actually confirmed that “definitely directly contaminated” soil was being removed; some figures suggest as much as 600 dump trucks worth.

The Trans Mountain Pipeline carries bitumen between Edmonton and Burnaby, B.C. Kinder Morgan announced earlier this year that it was expanding the pipeline expansion to increase pipeline capacity from carrying 300,000 barrels a day to 850,000 in areas where they company already has the right of way, thereby avoiding the obstacles thrown up to Keystone XL and Northern Gateway.

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