BURNABY TOWN HALL: KINDER MORGANS PIPELINE EXPANSION
Burnaby Residents Opposing the Kinder Morgan Pipeline Expansion (BROKE) and Forest Ethics Advocacy will host a Town Hall Meeting on March 4th about Kinder Morgans plan to build a new pipeline to carry crude bitumen at extremely high pressure from the Alberta tar sands to Burrard Inlet.
The pipeline, expansion of oil tanks on Burnaby Mountain, and increased tanker traffic through Burrard Inlet pose major risks.
Kinder Morgan presently ships 300,000 barrels of oil per day through its Trans Mountain Pipeline, which was built in the 1950s. The planned expansion would increase shipments to at least 890,000 barrels of crude oil and require construction of a new pipeline through residential neighborhoods, next to schools, near vulnerable salmon-bearing rivers and streams and protected conservation areas in Burnaby. Kinder Morgans proposal calls for dramatic expansion of storage tank capacity on Burnaby Mountain from 1.6 million barrels to 5.5 million barrels. The tar sands crude would then be loaded and shipped by huge tankers passing through 2nd Narrows, Georgia Straight, and the Salish Sea for export mostly to China. The plan also calls for expansion of the Westridge terminal dock from one berth to three capable of handling Afromax tankers with an average capacity of 750,000 barrels.
The shipment of bitumen, increases the risk of a catastrophic pipeline failure. Because of its viscosity, bitumen must be diluted by the addition of corrosive, noxious and carcinogenic chemicals plus high heat. This dramatically increases the risk of pipeline failure above and beyond the effects of lighter oils that have traditionally been shipped through the TransMountain pipeline. Bitumen also poses a special problem for cleanup after a pipeline, tank, or tanker accident because it sinks and cannot be cleaned from the land, rivers or ocean floor.
Get the facts. Come to the Town Hall on March 4, 2014 at 7:00 PM at Cameron Elementary School, 9540 Erickson Dr. Discuss the issues with your neighbors.
Contact: Forest Ethics Advocay & BROKE
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Twitter – #nopipelines
Website https:// www.brokepipelinewatch.ca