Vancouver residents to speak on judicial review of B.C.’s decision to green-light Kinder Morgan expansion project

Vancouver City Council standing committee will be hearing from residents on a motion to file an application for a judicial review of B.C.’s environmental approval of Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project.

The $6.8-billion expansion project received approval from the federal government in November, with 157 binding conditions set out by the National Energy Board (NEB). On Jan. 11. the B.C. government issued an environmental assessment certificate to Kinder Morgan, saying the five conditions the province placed on the project were close to being met.

At the time, B.C. Premier Christy Clark said the government was still working with Ottawa on spill response and it was preparing to negotiate an economic benefits package with Kinder Morgan that reflects B.C.’s risks associated with the pipeline and increased tanker traffic.

Now, a motion introduced by Vancouver Green Party councillor Adriane Carr is asking for a judicial review of the province’s decision.

In the motion, Carr says the provincial environmental assessment process requires consultation with First Nations, opportunities for the involvement of the public and all interested parties and technical studies to identify and examine potential significant adverse effects, “none of which were undertaken by the province, which appears to have relied on environmental assessments produced by the NEB process.”

Furthermore, the motion says the City of Vancouver, in its submissions as an intervenor in the National Energy Board’s Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion project process, noted the faulty environmental assessment process, including the absence of any modelling of the effects of a bitumen spill in Vancouver’s marine environment, makes it impossible to develop a “world-leading” oil spill response strategy.

First Nations leaders and environmental groups are expected to hold a rally on the steps of the City Hall Wednesday afternoon in support of the motion.

More to come. 

-With files from the Canadian Press