Challenging Kinder Morgan's plans to dig up BC Parks
October 14, 2014
Did you know Kinder Morgan wants to change the boundaries of four provincial parks in BC, all to accommodate the construction of its new Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline?
They’ve requested boundary adjustments at Finn Creek Park, North Thompson River Park, Lac Du Bois Grasslands Protected Area and Bridal Veil Falls Park (read about Kinder Morgan’s application here).
BC Parks was accepting public comments about this outrageous application until October 12, and many British Columbians chimed in to reaffirm that our protected areas should stay that way – protected!
Thank you to everyone who took a moment to submit a comment to BC Parks on this important issue!
One very disappointing element of this public process was that citizens were encouraged to submit comments to the private company, Kinder Morgan, instead of to the government. We think it's unacceptable that commenters were asked to send submissions to the private company proposing industrial development in our parks. Public comments about our parks should always be accepted by our provincial parks agency, BC Parks.
BC’s provincial parks were created to protect the beauty and diversity of the province – not to be used as convenient industrial corridors. Many of these areas were established to protect sensitive ecosystems and wild species, and therefore these areas may be extremely susceptible to damage from construction-related activities or in the event of a potential oil spill.
In addition to engaging in the public process to stop Kinder Morgan's proposed boundary adjustments, we have joined allied environmental groups in calling on the provincial government to revoke a park use permit issued to the company. With support from Ecojustice and the West Coast Environmental Law Association, we have determined that the park use permit issued to Kinder Morgan last November was likely unlawful.
Prior to BC's Park Amendment Act being made into law in March of 2014, park use permits could only be granted in Class A parks if in the opinion of the Minister to do so was necessary to preserve or maintain the recreational value of the park involved. Now companies can legally conduct invasive research in parks and then turn around and request that land be removed from park boundaries for pipelines, logging roads and transmission lines.
But Kinder Morgan's permit for "intrusive research" was issued in November 2013, before the new law was in place.
Read the press release here:
Read our letter to the BC government here:
Please stay tuned for more opportunities to take action to protect BC's beloved parks from industrial development, and to put a stop to Kinder Morgan's tar sands pipeline!
