A Vancouver-area city is launching a court challenge over its long-standing opposition to Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain oil pipeline.
The City of Burnaby has filed a notice with B.C. Supreme Court asking for temporary and permanent injunctions to prevent Kinder Morgan from cutting down trees in a conservation area on Burnaby Mountain.
The court challenge is the latest step in an escalating battle between the city, the company, and the National Energy board over both the pipeline and the jurisdiction of the national energy regulator to determine its route.
The National Energy Board ruled last month that the company doesn't need the city's permission to access Burnaby Mountain, which is also home to Simon Fraser University.
The city then accused the company of breaking local parks bylaws by cutting down trees, which in turn prompted the company to go back to the National Energy Board asking for another order allowing its work to proceed.
The $5.4-billion pipeline expansion would almost triple the current pipeline's capacity, moving about 900,000 barrels a day of crude oil or refined products between Alberta's oilsands and the B.C. coast.
