Pipeline opponents furious

Photo: Contributed - newswire.ca

Opponents of Kinder Morgan's plan to boost capacity of its Trans Mountain pipeline across southern B.C., accuse the National Energy Board of once again changing key dates in the review process.

The NEB is due to release draft conditions for the pipeline on Aug. 12.

Earlier this month, it changed the deadline for letters of comment on the draft conditions from July 23 to Sept. 3, but the Sierra Club says the NEB has just issued a new date of Aug. 18.

Sierra Club spokeswoman Larissa Stendie says that gives opponents just six days to respond and she calls the NEB handling of the pipeline review process "chaotic," "deeply flawed," and "unfair."

She urges the energy board to stick to its Sept. 3 date, while other critics say the mid-August deadline raises concerns that any comments will be marginalized or ignored.

Kinder Morgan hopes to triple the bitumen-carrying capacity of the Trans Mountain line by laying almost 1,000 kilometres of new pipe between Edmonton and Metro Vancouver, increasing the number of tankers in Burrard Inlet to 34 from the current five per month.