In a press release sent out by the City of Burnaby, the mayors of Burnaby, Vancouver, New Westminster, North Vancouver, Squamish and Bowen Island co-signed a statement of non-confidence in the existing National Energy Board (NEB) public hearing process.
The mayors’ declaration on Kinder Morgan Energy Process states that: It has become apparent that the NEB process does not constitute a ‘public hearing’ and is completely inadequate to assess the health and safety risks of a proposed pipeline through major metropolitan areas, and the potential risks of shipping bitumen oil to Burnaby and through the Burrard Inlet, the Salish Sea and along the coastline of British Columbia.
Kinder Morgan is proposing a $5.4 billion expansion to the Trans Mountain pipeline, the only line that runs oil from Alberta to B.C.’s West Coast. The proposal includes expanding the Burnaby Mountain tank farm and the Westridge Marine Terminal in the Burrard Inlet, where tankers fill up on crude. If it goes through, the expanded pipeline will bring 890,000 barrels of crude oil per day to be shipped to the open ocean.
The letter from the mayors also questions whether the NEB panel is independent from the oil industry proponents. It criticizes the process for the fact that the evidence presented never ends up being cross-examined, and also states that the proponent has failed to answer a majority of questions submitted by municipalities and other intervenors.
Ultimately, the mayors ask for the current NEB process to be put on hold and for a new one, created in consultation with local government, First Nations, and citizens, to replace it.
No one at the NEB was available for comment on the Mayors’ statements, but in a letter to the Burnaby NOW, NEB spokesperson Tara O’ Donovan said the board is “committed to a thorough and fair environmental assessment and regulatory review of the Trans Mountain Expansion project.”
“Our processes are fair and guided by legislation, including the National Energy Board Act,” O’ Donovan wrote. “The board has determined that this hearing is fair to all participants and meets the requirements of natural justice. The hearing includes an opportunity to file evidence, two opportunities to ask Trans Mountain written questions, opportunities for Aboriginal communities to provide oral Aboriginal traditional evidence and the option of both written argument and oral summary argument.”
Bowen Island Mayor Murray Skeels says that he has been following the erosion of the National Enery Board process since the hearings for the proposed Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline project.
“There has been such a serious erosion in the quality of this process, I’m not sure why they even bother to have it at all,” says Skeels.
He says that because the mayors wanted the letter to be released prior to any public discussion on the matter, there was no formal meeting about it.
“I chatted with a few of the other mayors in passing at the Mayor’s Council and other gatherings,” said Skeels. “My one addition to this release is that I wanted it to be made clear that in this situation, I am speaking as mayor, but that does not mean I am speaking on behalf of council of the Municipality of Bowen Island.”
He adds that there will be a discussion on the matter at Bowen’s next council meeting, April 7.
Written with files from Jennifer Moreau at Burnaby NOW.
FULL TEXT: Mayors’ Declaration on Kinder Morgan National Energy Process
On behalf of our municipalities and our citizens who face the risks of Kinder Morgan’s proposed Trans Mountain pipeline, the undersigned mayors wish to declare our “Non-Confidence” in the current NEB process.
It has become apparent that the NEB process does not constitute a ‘public hearing’ and is completely inadequate to assess the health and safety risks of a proposed pipeline through major metropolitan areas, and the potential risks of shipping bitumen oil to Burnaby and through Burrard Inlet, the Salish Sea, and along the coastline of British Columbia.
We have serious concerns that the current NEB panel is neither independent from the oil industry proponents nor ready or able to assess the ‘public interest’ of British Columbians. It is no longer a credible process from either a scientific evidentiary basis, nor from a public policy and public interest perspective.
This is not a ‘public hearing’. It has become apparent that the evidence presented by Kinder Morgan will never be tested by cross-examination. The second and final round of Intervenor Requests by written questions is nearing completion, and is proving to be inadequate. The proponent has failed to answer the majority of questions submitted by municipalities and other intervenors, and in IR round one the NEB panel has failed to require reasonable answers. Because of the inadequacies inherent to the review process, hundreds of questions critical to public safety and environmental impacts remain unanswered.
The loss of the standard Public Hearing from the application review process constitutes a significant erosion of the democratic rights of local governments, First Nations and citizens to cross-examine evidence presented, articulate concerns and voice opposition to applications.
The undersigned mayors therefore call on the federal government to put the current NEB process on hold until an adequate process is in place, and to call on the provincial and federal governments, through their appropriate and respective roles, to develop, in consultation with local governments, First Nations, and citizens, the restoration of a full Public Hearing process to be applied to the National Energy Board’s consideration of all applications for major industrial project proposals.
We also call upon the Government of British Columbia to re-assert its role in environmental assessment, and to establish a provincial process with proper public hearings to assess this very substantial private proposal.
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan
New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps
City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto
Bowen Island Mayor Murray Skeels
Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan
New Westminster Mayor Jonathan Cote
Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson
Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps
City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto
District of Squamish Mayor Patricia Heintzman
Bowen Island Mayor Murray Skeels
- See more at: http://www.burnabynow.com/news/update-mayors-sign-joint-declaration-against-national-energy-board-1.1809667#sthash.CnavlynH.dpufFull text: Mayors’ Declaration on Kinder Morgan National Energy Process
On behalf of our municipalities and our citizens who face the risks of Kinder Morgan’s proposed Trans Mountain pipeline, the undersigned mayors wish to declare our “Non-Confidence” in the current NEB process.
It has become apparent that the NEB process does not constitute a ‘public hearing’ and is completely inadequate to assess the health and safety risks of a proposed pipeline through major metropolitan areas, and the potential risks of shipping bitumen oil to Burnaby and through Burrard Inlet, the Salish Sea, and along the coastline of British Columbia.
We have serious concerns that the current NEB panel is neither independent from the oil industry proponents nor ready or able to assess the ‘public interest’ of British
Columbians. It is no longer a credible process from either a scientific evidentiary basis, nor from a public policy and public interest perspective.
This is not a ‘public hearing’. It has become apparent that the evidence presented by
Kinder Morgan will never be tested by cross-examination. The second and final round of Intervenor Requests by written questions is nearing completion, and is proving to be inadequate. The proponent has failed to answer the majority of questions submitted by municipalities and other intervenors, and in IR round one the NEB panel has failed to require reasonable answers. Because of the inadequacies inherent to the review process, hundreds of questions critical to public safety and environmental impacts remain unanswered.
The loss of the standard Public Hearing from the application review process constitutes a significant erosion of the democratic rights of local governments, First Nations and citizens to cross-examine evidence presented, articulate concerns and voice opposition to applications.
The undersigned mayors therefore call on the federal government to put the current NEB process on hold until an adequate process is in place, and to call on the provincial and federal governments, through their appropriate and respective roles, to develop, in consultation with local governments, First Nations, and citizens, the restoration of a full Public Hearing process to be applied to the National Energy Board’s consideration of all applications for major industrial project proposals. We also call upon the Government of British Columbia to re-assert its role in Environmental assessment, and to e
- See more at: http://www.burnabynow.com/news/update-mayors-sign-joint-declaration-against-national-energy-board-1.1809667#sthash.CnavlynH.dpufFull text: Mayors’ Declaration on Kinder Morgan National Energy Process
On behalf of our municipalities and our citizens who face the risks of Kinder Morgan’s proposed Trans Mountain pipeline, the undersigned mayors wish to declare our “Non-Confidence” in the current NEB process.
It has become apparent that the NEB process does not constitute a ‘public hearing’ and is completely inadequate to assess the health and safety risks of a proposed pipeline through major metropolitan areas, and the potential risks of shipping bitumen oil to Burnaby and through Burrard Inlet, the Salish Sea, and along the coastline of British Columbia.
We have serious concerns that the current NEB panel is neither independent from the oil industry proponents nor ready or able to assess the ‘public interest’ of British
Columbians. It is no longer a credible process from either a scientific evidentiary basis, nor from a public policy and public interest perspective.
This is not a ‘public hearing’. It has become apparent that the evidence presented by
Kinder Morgan will never be tested by cross-examination. The second and final round of Intervenor Requests by written questions is nearing completion, and is proving to be inadequate. The proponent has failed to answer the majority of questions submitted by municipalities and other intervenors, and in IR round one the NEB panel has failed to require reasonable answers. Because of the inadequacies inherent to the review process, hundreds of questions critical to public safety and environmental impacts remain unanswered.
The loss of the standard Public Hearing from the application review process constitutes a significant erosion of the democratic rights of local governments, First Nations and citizens to cross-examine evidence presented, articulate concerns and voice opposition to applications.
The undersigned mayors therefore call on the federal government to put the current NEB process on hold until an adequate process is in place, and to call on the provincial and federal governments, through their appropriate and respective roles, to develop, in consultation with local governments, First Nations, and citizens, the restoration of a full Public Hearing process to be applied to the National Energy Board’s consideration of all applications for major industrial project proposals. We also call upon the Government of British Columbia to re-assert its role in Environmental assessment, and to e
- See more at: http://www.burnabynow.com/news/update-mayors-sign-joint-declaration-against-national-energy-board-1.1809667#sthash.CnavlynH.dpufFull text: Mayors’ Declaration on Kinder Morgan National Energy Process
On behalf of our municipalities and our citizens who face the risks of Kinder Morgan’s proposed Trans Mountain pipeline, the undersigned mayors wish to declare our “Non-Confidence” in the current NEB process.
It has become apparent that the NEB process does not constitute a ‘public hearing’ and is completely inadequate to assess the health and safety risks of a proposed pipeline through major metropolitan areas, and the potential risks of shipping bitumen oil to Burnaby and through Burrard Inlet, the Salish Sea, and along the coastline of British Columbia.
We have serious concerns that the current NEB panel is neither independent from the oil industry proponents nor ready or able to assess the ‘public interest’ of British
Columbians. It is no longer a credible process from either a scientific evidentiary basis, nor from a public policy and public interest perspective.
This is not a ‘public hearing’. It has become apparent that the evidence presented by
Kinder Morgan will never be tested by cross-examination. The second and final round of Intervenor Requests by written questions is nearing completion, and is proving to be inadequate. The proponent has failed to answer the majority of questions submitted by municipalities and other intervenors, and in IR round one the NEB panel has failed to require reasonable answers. Because of the inadequacies inherent to the review process, hundreds of questions critical to public safety and environmental impacts remain unanswered.
The loss of the standard Public Hearing from the application review process constitutes a significant erosion of the democratic rights of local governments, First Nations and citizens to cross-examine evidence presented, articulate concerns and voice opposition to applications.
The undersigned mayors therefore call on the federal government to put the current NEB process on hold until an adequate process is in place, and to call on the provincial and federal governments, through their appropriate and respective roles, to develop, in consultation with local governments, First Nations, and citizens, the restoration of a full Public Hearing process to be applied to the National Energy Board’s consideration of all applications for major industrial project proposals. We also call upon the Government of British Columbia to re-assert its role in Environmental assessment, and to e
- See more at: http://www.burnabynow.com/news/update-mayors-sign-joint-declaration-against-national-energy-board-1.1809667#sthash.CnavlynH.dpuf
