Greenpeace Canada activists protesting at the terminus of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline in Burnaby are leaving the site this evening, with the help of RCMP.
The organization Tweeted a picture of two of its activists locked to the loading dock’s oil pumping mechanism at the Kinder Morgan facility this morning.
Fourteen other demonstrators were also on scene today.
As of 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, demonstrators were being escorted into RCMP cruisers on site.
The protesters had deployed a banner and painted “Stop the Tar Sands“ on one of Kinder Morgan’s storage tanks.
Spokesman Peter Louwe said earlier today that the protesters intend to stay until they have sent a message to Prime Minister Stephen Harper that expansion of oil pipelines is not acceptable.
“With every extra tanker or kilometer of pipeline, we increase the risk of an accident that would be catastrophic to the coast and our communities,” said Mike Hudema, a climate and energy campaigner for Greenpeace Canada in a release. “On the day of the throne speech, we’re telling Prime Minister Harper to say no to tar sands expansion and yes to a green energy future.”
The activists who took part in today’s protest wore armbands saying “Arctic 30” in support of the 30 Greenpeace members detained by Russian authorities in response to a protest at a Russian oil platform in the Arctic.
“The tar sands and Arctic drilling represent the ugliest face of our global oil addiction,” said Hudema. “Greenpeace protests these dangerous oil projects whether they are in B.C. or north of Russia. Harper and other political leaders need to get the message it’s time to end our addiction to oil and build the green energy revolution we need.”
Kinder Morgan issued the following statement to Global News.
“We understand that projects of this size and scope tend to bring a variety of views with it. We have been and continue to be open to engaging with individuals and groups to hear their concerns and to share factual information on the project.”
The Trans Mountain pipeline noted on its Twitter feed that operations are continuing without disruption, with no impact to marine or aviation fuel operation.
The company web site says Kinder Morgan Burnaby terminal receives both crude oil and refined products for temporary storage and distribution through separate pipelines to local terminals, a refinery and the Westridge marine terminal.
The terminal has 13 storage tanks with an overall volume of 250 000 m3 (1.6 million bbl).
With files from the Canadian Press
Watch: Greenpeace protest
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