Kinder Morgan expansion vs Burnaby and others : Who will win?

The Transmountain pipeline,  currently owned and operated by Kinder Morgan, has been in Burnaby since 1953. The 1150 km pipeline runs from Edmonton to the Westridge marine terminal just off the Burrard Inlet.

The pipeline provides energy supplies of 300000 barrels a day  to Western Canada. In the 20th century, its spills in Burnaby were relatively minor. There was a spill of 12 cubic litres in 1987, but nothing more than that.

Fast forward 2 decades later.

On July 24, 2007, a contractor ruptured the pipe line,  sending 250000 litres of crude into the air, with 70000 invading the Burrard Inlet. The price tag for the cleanup cost was $15 million and 250 people had to leave their homes.

But the misfortunes of the North Burnaby residents did not end there. Less than 2 years later, about 200000 litres gushed out of a Kinder Morgan storage tank in Burnaby Mountain, 10 km away from the 2007 spill.

Then Kinder Morgan's environmental damage shifted to Abbotsford in January 2012, where 110000 litres gushed out from its Sumas Tank Farm. So what did they announce a few months later?

Kinder Morgan announced they want to double  the existing pipeline. The oil giant initially planned to carry 600000 barrels per day in the Transmountain pipelines.

Now Kinder Morgan wants to carry almost 900000 barrels per day.

Burnaby mayor Derek Corrigan blasted the 5 billion dollar plan back in April 2012.

In July 24, 2013, 6 years after the Barnet Highway spill, most residents in the Westridge neighborhood were dead set against the expansion, which will export oil overseas.

On February 26, the Calgary based National Energy Board rejected a request from the Burnaby Douglas MP Kennedy Stewart to extend the deadline for participation in the Kinder Morgan expansion hearings.

One day later, it was revealed the Texas based Oil giant sent a 15 page letter to NEB and those applied for Intervenor status, saying some of Intervenor applicants may be ineligible.

On March 18, 2014, Burnaby officially asked the Calgary based National Energy Board to reject the Kinder Morgan application, on the grounds it lacks important information.

But can Burnaby and other opponents such as Vancouver and North Shore municipalities topple Kinder Morgan and its alleged backers such as the National Energy Board?

The Federal Conservatives have the final say. A court action may be the only way to stop the expansion.