The city of Port Moody is determined to have a say on the proposed expansion of the Kinder Morgan pipeline.
Council approved a motion Tuesday night to have the city apply for intervenor status to participate in National Energy Board hearings on the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion.
"This just gives us a voice at the table," said Coun. Rick Glumac. "Almost every coastal municipality in the region has applied for intervenor status."
The proposed project would expand the existing 1,150-kilomere Trans Mountain pipeline system between Edmonton and Burnaby. The project would twin the existing pipeline and include 981 km of new pipeline. The work would almost triple the capacity of the pipeline system from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels a day and would include new marine tanker loading facilities to accommodate the additional oil tanker traffic expected to increase from the current five vessels a month to 34 vessels a month.
"We have to file it as a placeholder so that we can make sure that we have a chance to articulate our position," said Mayor Mike Clay. "We've already got the motions of council that we're concerned about any tanker traffic not only here but anywhere on the coast."
In July 2012, Port Moody council passed a resolution expressing opposition to projects that would lead to the expansion of oil tanker traffic through B.C.'s coastal waters.
City manager Kevin Ramsay cautioned that it could prove costly to make a presentation at the hearings expected to convene in four to six months. He said other municipalities are facing costs of up to $500,000, and much of that would be consumed in legal costs as well as research costs.
But Clay said much of the research has already been undertaken and those groups who have already funded that research would be willing to share their work.
"I think Burnaby says there's a couple hundred thousand in legal costs that they've already done on research. We don't need to redo their work, we will benefit from it," he said. "We'll have to look into if there's specific Port Moody things that we need to research or identify, and then we will."
The Village of Belcarra is also applying for intervenor status.
