Kinder Morgan wins injunction against Burnaby Mountain pipeline protesters

The B.C. Supreme Court is telling anti-pipeline protesters on Burnaby Mountain that they must vacate the area by 4 p.m. on Monday (November 17).

Trans Mountain Pipeline ULC, a Kinder Morgan subsidiary, sought an injunction after protesters stopped employees and contractors from carrying out drilling and survey work in the conservation area late last month.

In his ruling today (November 14), Associate Chief Justice Austin Cullen noted the importance of upholding freedom of expression but concluded the injunction was necessary to avoid causing the plaintiff "irreparable harm".

"I therefore find that the balance of convenience favours the plaintiff," Cullen wrote. "What the plaintiff faces is the prospect of ongoing cost and damages which are not likely to be recovered. In my view, the countervailing interests of the defendants relate not to the relatively minor prospective harm from the plaintiff completing its investigation, but the much larger issue which is yet to be engaged and which is not implicated by this application."

The decision names as the defendants "Adam Gold, Mia Nissen, Stephen Collis, Lynne Quarmby, Alan Dutton in his personal capacity and as a representative of Burnaby Residents opposing Kinder Morgan Expansion also known as BROKE, John Doe, Jane Doe and persons unknown".

Some of the protesters are also the target of a multimillion-dollar civil suit from the company.

Cullen noted in his ruling that the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project is "controversial because of concerns of environmental degradation through the increased use of fossil fuels throughout the world and potential for immediate, local environmental damage due to leaks and spills".

You can read the full text of the ruling on the Supreme Court website.