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Your source for local sports, news, weather and entertainment! >> www.burnabynow.com CITIZENS AND THE CITY FACE OFF WITH KINDER MORGAN ON PROTECTED LAND
Cornelia Naylor/burnaby now
Duelling laws: Above, a City of Burnaby bylaw
forbids cutting or damaging trees in parks, yet the National Energy Board Act allows Kinder Morgan to conduct survey work in the Burnaby Mountain conservation area, work that has included cutting several trees. The city responded by issuing a stopwork order and tickets. At left, Christine Ensing, For more photos the city’s environmental and a video services officer, stands scan with Layar watch on Thursday to or go to www. burnabynow. enforce city bylaws, while com chatting with a group of concerned citizens. Chung Chow/burnaby now
Pipeline: The battle over Burnaby Mountain Jennifer Moreau staff reporter
Local residents and city staff are keeping a protective eye on Burnaby Mountain, in the midst of a legal battle with Kinder Morgan, which hopes to survey the conservation area for a new pipeline route. The National Energy Board recently ruled Kinder Morgan can conduct work without permission from the city, which opposes the pipeline project. That contradiction poses a serious legal conundrum for the city’s lawyer Gregory McDade.
“I think there’s an important constitutional question in this country as to whether Ottawa, in pursuit of energy policy, should be able to override municipalities in terms of local questions – where the route goes, what time of day you cut, and close roads or not close roads,” he told the NOW. “In our constitutional system, municipalities should have the right to make those decisions, so this is likely to be a long struggle.” On Thursday morning, roughly two dozen concerned citizens gathered on the mountain, many from Simon Fraser
University or BROKE, the local residents’ group opposing the pipeline, but Kinder Morgan’s work crews did not show up that morning. Burnaby-Douglas MP Kennedy Stewart was there and explained to the crowd that the National Energy Board Act allows the company to work on the land without the city’s permission. “Kinder Morgan can do the same things to private property owners as they are doing to the city here,” Stewart told the crowd. The group held a short memorial for
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some trees Kinder Morgan cut down this week, and retired teacher Yvon Raoul played the bagpipes. The group members agreed to take turns monitoring the area daily until the situation is resolved. The NOW made a short trek through the woods where Kinder Morgan had started clearing an area to bore a hole for geotechnical work. Several trees had been cut, and a few city staff were on site, watching over the land, ready to enforce city bylaws, in case Kinder Morgan showed up. (Kinder Morgan also
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