The City of Burnaby is sparring with Kinder Morgan over whether it knowingly planned its proposed route for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion through a sensitive conservation area, an allegation that dominated the first of three days of National Energy Board hearings involving the Vancouver suburb.
In the Tuesday morning session in Burnaby, the city's legal counsel, Gregory McDade, accused Trans Mountain of purposely routing the pipeline through the Brunette River Area – a site long designated for conservation by the city.
In documents filed with the energy board, Burnaby has said the proposed route passes through conservation areas and parks that provide critical green space and extensive trail systems to the public. Significant amounts of trees and vegetation would be removed and sensitive creek and river ecosystems would be affected, the city says.
However, Trans Mountain's Michael Davies defended the company on Tuesday by saying that it looked at mapping by the City of Burnaby and the route was crafted to minimize the environmental harm of the expansion.
"Burnaby's intent to include that land in a conservation area was not clear to us in the routing process," Mr. Davies said.
The energy board is holding hearings this week on the route that would run through Burnaby, Coquitlam and north Surrey. Burnaby is a major opponent of the project and has publicly battled Kinder Morgan Canada, with Mayor Derek Corrigan saying he is willing to be arrested for civil disobedience to stop the project.
Mr. Davies and Mr. McDade brought up different maps showing the Brunette River. Mr. Davies referred to a map showing that the area's pipeline does not disrupt any conservation areas.
Mr. McDade referred to a different map, indicating that the proposed pipeline is routed through the conservation area. The two maps showed the same pipeline route, but different footprints for the conservation area. Mr. McDade then referred to the area's Official Community Plan adopted in 1988, which highlighted the city's intention to conserve the Brunette River area and designate it a conservation area.
"Surely, before building a pipeline though the city, you looked at the community plan," Mr. McDade said.
Mr. Davies acknowledged that the city's map as well as the community plan were also factored into determining the company's new route, but said it was the most practical route.
"The conservation area today does not reflect what is shown in the map," Mr. Davies said. "The area the pipeline runs through now is not part of the conservation area."
Mr. Davies maintained in his opening statement that the proposed 1,147-kilometre pipeline is the most practical and least harmful route, saying that it is the least disruptive to local communities and the routing is close to existing infrastructure and utilities, including the existing Kinder Morgan facility. Mr. Davies referred to a set of principles listed in Kinder Morgan's routing criteria, which guided the proposed route.
In response to Mr. McDade's claim that the city was not adequately consulted on the proposed route, Mr. Davies mentioned that there were a number of opportunities for the City of Burnaby to take part in consultations.
People who anticipated their lands may be adversely affected by the route were able to file statements of opposition.