Belcarra mayor Ralph Drew recommends pipeline-study enhancements to Kinder Morgan

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      Belcarra mayor  Ralph Drew hasn’t heard from Kinder Morgan about a couple of suggestions he made to the energy company.

      They concern its study—along with the oil-industry-funded Western Canada Marine Response Corporation—of the shoreline environment of its Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby.

      The project is part of preparations for Kinder Morgan’s plans to triple the capacity of its Trans Mountain pipeline. It wants to deliver up to 890,000 barrels of oil a day from Strathcona County near Edmonton to its Burnaby terminal.

      In a letter dated June 26, 2013, Drew suggested that the shoreline study should include a “postmortem examination of the environmental monitoring and impact assessment” of a 2007 oil spill. The incident occurred when a construction crew punctured a Kinder Morgan pipeline along the Barnet Highway.

      Drew also proposed the collection of data on the aquatic life in the Burrard Inlet study area. This covers the waters off Belcarra, Port Moody, Burnaby, and the District of North Vancouver. “We think that it’s important that those additional studies be undertaken to complement their background work leading up to the preparation of the emergency-response strategy,” Drew told the Straight in a July 23 phone interview.

      Although Drew said he hasn’t received a response, Port Moody and the District of North Vancouver have written Kinder Morgan to support his recommendations. On Friday (July 26), the board of Metro Vancouver will vote on a recommendation by the regional district’s environment and parks committee to endorse Drew’s proposals through a letter to Kinder Morgan.

      Kinder Morgan didn’t respond to a request by the Straight for comment before deadline.

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