Kinder Morgan Asks B.C. to Remove Land from Provincial Parks to Make Way for Trans Mountain Pipeline Construction

Kinder Morgan made the news last week after disagreement between the company and the city of Burnaby came to a head over the removal of trees in the Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area in advance of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.

After Kinder Morgan began clearing an area to facilitate survey work, which included exploratory drilling, Burnaby issued a stop work order, stating the company was violating municipal bylaws and causing irreparable damage to park areas.

On Monday, Burnaby filed a civil claim against Kinder Morgan in the Supreme Court of B.C., asking for interim and permanent injunctions to halt the company’s work in the Burnaby Mountain area. The city will appear in court Thursday to request the company cease work until the matter be heard before the Supreme Court.

But Kinder Morgan's interest in park area goes beyond Burnaby Mountain as detailed plans submitted to the province of B.C. reveal. The company's Provincial Protected Area Boundary Adjustment application, shows the Trans Mountain pipeline will cut through three provincial parks and one protected grassland in B.C. 

The application requests parkland be removed from four park boundaries to facilitate pipeline construction.

These areas include:

Finn Creek Provincial Park. For additional information, see Kinder Morgan's Finn Creek application.

North Thomson River Provincial Park. For additional information, see Kinder Morgan's North Thomson River application.

Lac Du Bois Grasslands Protected Area. For additional information, see Kinder Morgan's Lac Du Bois application.

Bridal Veil Falls Provincial Park. For more information, see Kinder Morgan's Bridal Veil Falls application. 

According to B.C. Parks, Kinder Morgan will submit an additional resource use permit requesting to construct the pipeline expansion through the Coquihalla Summit Recreation Area.

According to Kinder Morgan, "Following completion of Project construction, the lands removed from the parks through the boundary adjustment may be returned to park or protected area status with operations authorized under a park use permit."

Public comment on the proposed changes can be made to Kinder Morgan or B.C. Parks until October 12. Although, as Stephen Hui notes on the straight.com, B.C. Parks requires commenters to agree to a privacy statement that entails sharing comments with Kinder Morgan before a feedback form is made available. 

Image Credit: Bridal Veil Falls in B.C. by Michelle Lee via Flickr.