After two years and thousands of pages of evidence, the final stage of the National Energy Board review of the Kinder Morgan pipeline has arrived, with oral hearings taking place in Burnaby and Calgary this month.
GSA’s lawyer making our case against Kinder Morgan to the NEB panel
It’s a chance for intervenors like GSA to make our case directly to the panel as to why this project should not be approved. As well as stating our grave concerns about the project’s impact on the marine environment, the climate, coastal communities and the economy, GSA’s final argument hinges on two key points. First, failures in oil spill response planning put communities and the environment at unacceptable risk from an oil spill. Second, Kinder Morgan’s admission that the project will have serious negative impacts on our endangered killer whales cannot be justified. Find out more in our final written argument. You can also watch a video of our oral presentation to the panel (starting at 5.44), or read the transcript.
Just as importantly, the oral hearings are a moment for everyone who wants to see a different future for our region to raise our voices and make it clear that we will hold the Prime Minister to his promise of a fair hearing for Kinder Morgan – and we will never allow this pipeline to be built.
Rally outside the NEB hearing in Burnaby
And raise them we did – with two big rallies, a daily presence outside and inside the hearing rooms by a broad coalition of groups, sit-ins and letters calling for the NEB to open its doors to the public, a major petition delivery, and a two-week blitz of media coverage highlighting the need to fix the process and reject the pipeline.
As the pressure mounted, the federal government announced that it would be imposing a new round of review on Kinder Morgan, including a partial climate test – a welcome step forward, but falling far short of what’s needed.
The hearings move to Calgary next, where the City of Vancouver and a number of industry intervenors will present. It’s important to keep up the momentum, so keep tuning in via the NEB’s live-stream and sharing your thoughts on social media using the hashtag #StopKinderMorgan. The full schedule of intervenor presentations is available here.
What comes next? While the NEB prepares its report to Cabinet and the government implements its additional review, it’s our job to show Prime Minister Trudeau that he has no choice but to reject the Kinder Morgan pipeline. With the Province of BC now joining local governments, First Nations and the public in opposing the project, it seems that victory just might be within our grasp.
The Kinder Morgan Pipeline must not be allowed to be built. The possible destruction to communities and the environment are at too high a risk from oil spills. We must not let this pipeline undermine our security in the protection of our marine and land environments.
We would never have had railroads if all the naysayers would have been alive then. Everything that is proposed today is a no because it goes against someone’s personal feelings and does not affect his or her well being. Get off your high horses and stop trying to control all outcomes. The pipelines will be built and rightfully so.
This is about way more than personal feelings. This project has clear and measurable risks, both locally and globally, that have been set out over the past two years by experts during the NEB hearings. Check out some of the evidence at https://accesskmxinfo.com/. And as we say no to pipelines, we say yes to a liveable planet, yes to reconciliation with Canada’s Indigenous peoples, and yes to job creation in clean tech and renewable energy.
Gimme a break. Like most naysayers, Alexandra does not seem to think of the clear and measurable benefits – only of risks. Everything – going to work, biking, getting out of bed has risks. The job of the NEB is a assess and compare the two from a Canadian (not just BC) perspective, and advise the governments. As John Penner hints, if we turned down every project that has a risk, we could never do anything.