Two pipeline protesters occupied a huge piece of Kinder Morgan machinery in Delta Thursday morning before rappelling down in the afternoon.
The tunnel boring machine was making its way to Burnaby Mountain where it will help drill a path for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion.
WATCH: Anti-pipeline protesters climb onto drill
Greenpeace activists Mary Lovell and Laura Yates climbed the machinery, which they said they tracked from Germany to the Tilbery Industrial Park in Delta.
“The demonstrators have been respectful and cooperative with police,” said Cris Leykauf, public affairs coordinator with the Delta Police Department.
Greenpeace says the two women climbed on top of the machine just before dawn, then dropped a banner reading “Protect Water, Stop Pipelines” and waved a flag saying, “Here’s the Drill: Stop KM.”
Lovell and Yates said they had intended to stay in place as long as possible and hoped their actions will empower others to resist this project “every step of the way.”
“Enough is enough,” said Yates in a release.
“Right now, we need leaders who are brave visionaries, who are willing to take the leap, leave dirty oil projects behind and choose a path to a better future. What we don’t need are leaders, like Justin Trudeau, who continue to be swayed by corporate interests rather than honouring Indigenous rights, protecting drinking water from oil spills and ensuring healthy ecosystems and a livable climate for people all over the world.”
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This follows a number of other protests against the pipeline expansion over the past few months.
Kinder Morgan has announced it is suspending all non-essential spending on the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline, essentially putting a halt to the project.
Protests are going to continue against the pipeline expansion until Kinder Morgan abandons it altogether, said Karen Mahon, campaign director with Stand.earth.
“Kinder Morgan made this announcement that they were suspending essential spending but in fact, there is work continuing and people are committed to do whatever it takes to stop this pipeline,” she told Global News.
Burnaby RCMP have made almost 200 arrests in connection with anti-pipeline demonstrations since early March. Most have been arrested for breaching a court-ordered injunction that said protesters cannot block access to the facility.
In a poll released on Wednesday, Ipsos Global Public Affairs found that 55 per cent of people in the province polled support the project while 37 are opposed.
But when you dig into the issue more, 63 per cent of British Columbians are concerned about a tanker incident while 82 per cent said they want to see more federal money to protect the coast.
— With files from Richard Zussman and Jesse Ferreras
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