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The detailed route hearings for the segment of the Trans Mountain pipeline that will go through Burnaby will begin in January 2018, the National Energy Board announced on Thursday.
The exact dates will be made available after Nov. 14.
From April to July, the NEB received 452 statements of opposition to the proposed route.
To qualify for a hearing, statements needed to show a direct link between the route and the applicant’s lands and how those lands could be “adversely affected.” Of the 452 statements received, 135 related to the Burnaby segment. Of those 135, 28 were granted a detailed route hearing. Some of the successful applicants include: City of Burnaby, City of Coquitlam, Solid Rock Holdings Ltd., Lily and Frank Fan, Min Guo and David Huntley.
There’s still another chance to participate in the hearing process, according to the NEB’s Whitney Punchak, a process advisor with the national energy regulator. People can apply either as a commenter or an intervener for each of the detailed route hearings.
“If you’re an intervener, you can ask questions of Trans Mountain or other interveners. You can provide evidence and other interveners and Trans Mountain may ask you about your evidence, and if we have oral final statements, they’ll be able to provide one of those,” said Punchak. “For commenters, you’ll be able to provide a letter of comment expressing your views on the project or providing evidence.”
Anyone interested in taking part must submit an application by Oct. 31 by 3 p.m. PST.
The federal government approved Kinder Morgan’s $7.4-billion Trans Mountain expansion project last November, following the NEB’s recommendation in May 2016 that the project go ahead subject to 157 conditions.
The Edmonton-to-Burnaby pipeline faces fierce opposition, especially from cities like Burnaby, First Nations groups and environmental organizations.
A case against Kinder Morgan is currently in the Federal Court of Appeal and is scheduled to wrap up next Thursday. The court could overturn the Governor in Council’s decision as it did with Enbridge’s Northern Gateway project.
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