Crews were sent out to secure a roadside slope on Gaglardi Way in Burnaby after heavy rain washed out a section along Kinder Morgan’s pipeline, leaving it exposed.
The line runs refined oil from the Burnaby Mountain tank farm to the nearby Suncor terminal, and Kinder Morgan sent workers to expose the pipeline even further to keep an eye on it while city-hired contractors rebuilt the slope.
At one point, the line remained exposed in place and suspended by a crane overhead, which caught the attention of local resident John Clarke.
“I am concerned that a high pressure pipeline could be exposed for that distance and supported by a single crane, and they could continue to pump product through it,” Clarke said.
The washed-out section was close to a site where city-hired contractors are relining a culvert that runs Stoney Creek beneath Gaglardi Way, according to James Lota, an assistant engineering director with the City of Burnaby.
“There was some concern about the slope, so as a cautionary measure Kinder Morgan went out there to secure the pipeline,” Lota said.
Crews removed more of the surrounding dirt to keep an eye on the pipeline while the slope was stabilized, according to Lota.
Kinder Morgan spokesperson Ali Hounsell said the company wanted to see exactly what was going on with that section of the pipeline.
“You want to ensure it’s stable and there’s nothing coming close to it and the integrity of the pipeline remains intact,” Hounsell said.
Burnaby’s contractors have stabilized the slope, and the pipeline will be reburied, Lota said, and there weren’t any concerns from the city’s standpoint.
“That’s what happens when you do construction in rainy Vancouver,” he said.
Volunteer streamkeeper Alan James is a longtime member of the Stoney Creek Environment Committee, which keeps a close eye on the creek and its salmon. He raised concerns about the timing of the project.
“It’s happening at the wrong time of year, because the salmon are spawning at the moment,” he said.
The ideal window is in late summer when the smolts have left the creek, according to James.
Lota said the contractor’s availability and narrow time frame were an issue.
“Practical things come up, you can’t always do it in the ideal time,” he said.
Kinder Morgan has kept staff on site 24/7 to monitor the pipeline.
This isn’t the first time city-hired crews have had a close encounter with Kinder Morgan’s pipeline. In 2007, city contractors broke an oil pipeline while digging on Inlet Drive, creating a geyser of crude that coated nearby homes.
