Trans Mountain pipeline review delayed pending new route studies
National Energy Board's report was due in July 2015, but deadline is now January 2016
A regulatory review of the proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline through British Columbia will be delayed by almost seven months while Kinder Morgan gathers information requested by the National Energy Board.
The company now prefers a new route through Burnaby Mountain, in Metro Vancouver, and must complete further feasibility studies.
- Kinder Morgan pipeline could run under Burnaby Mountain
- Trans Mountain Pipeline plans need amendment, says Burnaby
- Kinder Morgan hearings scheduled for Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion
Compiling the information could take an order from the National Energy Board that forces the City of Burnaby to co-operate.
The city is officially opposed to the project that would almost triple the capacity of the existing Trans Mountain pipeline linking the Alberta oilsands to Port Metro Vancouver.
Energy board spokeswoman Sarah Kiley says the company has until Dec. 1 to submit the requested studies to the board and then interveners will have until Feb. 3 to review and respond to that information.
Under the original schedule, the board's report was due July 2, 2015, but that deadline will now be Jan. 25, 2016.