Kinder Morgan has been given the green light to begin construction on some areas of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion Project, after initially failing around a dozen aspects of a pre-construction audit released by the National Energy Board (NEB) on Thursday.
The audit evaluated the project’s ability to prevent incidents and ensure worker safety.
Eleven out of 36 items examined in the audit were found to be non-compliant.
However, the company has since filed a corrective action plan to address the deficiencies, and can thus proceed with construction in areas where all other requirements have also been met, said the NEB.
“The NEB will monitor Trans Mountain’s implementation of the CAP, and verify the effectiveness of the company’s management system through targeted compliance verification activities as a part of its ongoing regulatory oversight of the project,” read a release from the NEB.
The audit saw the NEB spend two months carrying out document and on-site activities review. The review included interviews with company employees, and it examined staff responsibilities and training materials.
In 2016, the federal government approved the expansion subject to 157 conditions despite public outcry.
The $7.4 billion-dollar project will expand an existing 1,150-kilometre pipeline between Strathcona County, Alta. and Burnaby and will involve 980 kilometres of new pipeline, 12 new pump stations and 19 new tanks, Kinder Morgan says on its website.
The new line would almost triple its current capacity, going from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels per day.
Premier John Horgan vowed to fight the expansion project during the provincial election campaign.
Earlier this summer, the NDP hired Supreme Court Justice Thomas Berger as external counsel to provide options on legal challenges.
~With files from Amy Judd and Haider Nayani
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