Kinder Morgan oil spill in Abbotsford: Timely reminder of pipeline expansion dangers
by Wilderness Committee
VANCOUVER – Kinder Morgan has confirmed there was an oil spill this
morning at the Sumas Terminal and tank farm in Abbottsford, after nearby
residents phoned 911 and reported headaches and nausea from a heavy
smell of gas in the air.
“Here we are in the middle of high profile public hearings about the
proposed Enbridge pipeline in northern BC, and yet Kinder Morgan has
been allowed to move ahead with expansion plans without public
consultation,” said West.
On the first day of the Enbridge public
hearings, earlier this month, a leak was reported on an Enbridge gas
pipeline on the Gulf of Mexico.
“We have warned time and again that with oil pipelines there will be
oil spills,” said Ben West, Healthy Communities Campaigner for the
Wilderness Committee, which is one of a number of groups opposed to
Kinder Morgan’s plans to expand the capacity of the Trans Mountain
pipeline in order to increase exports of crude oil to Asia and other
markets.
The Abbottsford terminal is part of the Kinder Morgan pipeline
system which brings tar sands crude from Alberta via the Trans Mountain
pipeline ending at terminals in Burnaby and Washington State. There was a spectacular oil spill in a Burnaby residential neighbourhood near the terminal back in 2007.
Today’s spill prompted nearby Auguston Traditional Elementary School
to keep its students indoors all morning. Back in 2005, a spill at the
same tank farm forced some local residents to relocate temporarily.
“With expanded capacity will come expanded risk of spills,” said West.
“Residents from Burnaby to Abbottsford – and everywhere along the
Kinder Morgan pipeline – deserve to have full public consultation about
the risks to their health and the environment.”
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For Immediate Release - January 24, 2012
