VANCOUVER — Anti-pipeline protesters have been ordered to remove their barricade preventing survey work for Trans Mountain's proposed expansion through a Metro Vancouver conservation area.
A B.C. Supreme Court judge has ruled against five activists named in an injunction application sought by Kinder Morgan, saying they have until 4 p.m. Monday to dismantle encampments on Burnaby Mountain.
Associate Chief Justice Austin Cullen says failing to grant the injunction would cause irreparable harm to the company through substantial costs and potential revenue losses that are not recoverable.
Protesters have staged an around-the-clock blockade of two borehole sites since early September, leading to legal action by the energy giant, which has also filed a multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit.
Lawyers representing subsidiary Trans Mountain argued protesters used profanity, blasted a bullhorn and intimidated workers, but the defendants argued they were exercising free speech and lawful civil disobedience.
Cullen says in his written decision that workers for the Kinder Morgan subsidiary were faced with either confronting the protesters or leaving the site and they "wisely" chose the latter.
