Re: “B.C. protesters rally for and against pipeline project,” March 11.
What Amy Smart’s Canadian Press article regarding the Kinder Morgan expansion fails to disclose is the fact that this pipeline expansion is not simply a twinning of the existing pipeline.
Texas-based Kinder Morgan plans to clearcut part of Burnaby Mountain to put a tunnel between two terminals, thus creating a new route. According to Burnaby Mayor Derek Corrigan, this new route cuts through a conservation/park area of Burnaby Mountain that was purchased by the City of Burnaby from Simon Fraser University and the province, so that green space could be secured, in perpetuity, for the citizens of Burnaby.
Kinder Morgan’s clearcutting on Burnaby Mountain is scheduled to start any day now, and will remove trees in an area where protections exist for migratory birds. According to David Green, avian ecology professor at SFU, this clearcutting will pose a threat to the migratory birds that use this area for mating and nesting purposes; once their habitat is removed, there is no chance they will produce offspring that year.
If Kinder Morgan is permitted to clearcut this area of Burnaby Mountain to create a new pipeline route, this loss of habitat will undoubtedly affect other species as well.
Kathryn Olson
Victoria
