Public consultation on FortisBC's twinning of a natural gas pipeline between Coquitlam and Squamish will be ramping up in the coming months.
James Lota, project assessment and development manager with the company, told Coquitlam's council-in-committee that following the filing of its environmental assessment application this month, it will begin the process of engaging residents.
"This is what we are getting ramped up to do right now," he said during Monday's meeting. "We are going to have a few open houses - one in Coquitlam in the new year. We are also opening up a storefront in Squamish so that people can talk to us directly."
The environmental certificate and the oil and gas permits are expected to be approved by June 2015, Lota said. If all goes according to plan, construction could be starting this time next year and the line could be operational by the summer of 2016.
When Lota last updated council on the project in July, he was told by city manager Peter Steblin that Coquitlam would be looking for co-operation with FortisBC on an amenity project.
On Monday, Lota reported that company representatives have been working with city staff to potentially build a hiking trail connection that would link the top of the Coquitlam Crunch to the area around FortisBC's new compressor station.
"Your staff have provided plans for the trail and the proposed configuration of what you want us to build," he said. "We have put a lot of thought into it and we are moving forward on the basis that we would like to help you out with that."
FortisBC wants to twin its existing line between the north end of the Coquitlam watershed and a small-scale liquefied natural gas project at the Woodfibre industrial site in Squamish. The work would also require the addition of two new electrically driven compressor stations on Eagle Mountain.
The company said the work is necessary to improve the efficiency of its pipeline system.
