Media Release - November 23, 2012

BURNABY, BC – A lawsuit launched by a Nevada mother against pipeline company Kinder Morgan is raising serious concerns in the Lower Mainland this week, as the company continues its series of public information sessions regarding the proposed Trans Mountain pipeline project through BC.

The US lawsuit alleges that Kinder Morgan failed to adequately monitor and repair a pipeline that was leaking jet fuel into the ground beneath a school playground over a decade ago. Evidence suggests that this leak contributed to a number of childhood cancer cases at the school, and to the 2008 death of 10-year-old cancer victim Ryan Brune.

“What happened in Fallon, Nevada was a great tragedy, and it’s exactly the type of tragedy we need to prevent from happening here in BC,” said Ben West, the Wilderness Committee’s Healthy Communities Campaigner. “With Kinder Morgan holding info sessions at several elementary and secondary schools in the province, we hope this news will serve as a warning to local residents about the threats posed by pipelines running through highly populated communities.”

This Saturday, November 24, Kinder Morgan will be hosting an info session at Stoney Creek Community School in Burnaby. The existing Trans Mountain pipeline runs parallel to the school’s playground and directly underneath the adjacent organic community garden. The company's newly proposed project would run a second pipeline alongside it.

Local residents and supporters will be present outside the school during Saturday’s info session from 1 to 4 p.m., to express their opposition to the pipeline project and associated risks.

"Teachers in Burnaby, to the best of my knowledge, have not received any health and safety training or specific evacuation training to respond to any oil spills or exposure to these highly toxic chemicals. The Burnaby Teachers’ Association will be raising this issue with our senior administration and trustees and pushing for detailed response plans at all affected schools. Ignorance is no defence—schools must be prepared for the worst case scenarios," said James Sanyshyn, President of the Burnaby Teachers’ Association (BTA).

Burnaby residents have experienced the frightening impacts of pipeline oil spills firsthand, after a 2007 rupture on the Kinder Morgan line spilled more than 200,000 litres of oil into a residential neighbourhood.

“We remember the major oil spill in Burnaby in 2007 and the leaks in 2009 at Kinder Morgan’s facility above Seaforth Elementary School, both of which caused evacuations,” said Elsie Dean of Burnaby Residents Opposed to Kinder Morgan Expansion (BROKE). “BC schools have good seismic emergency plans, but schools close to oil pipelines or oil tank farms have no such plans for emergencies or leaks. We are very concerned about the serious and long-term health impact for students and teachers.”

In addition to shipping crude oil and diluted bitumen from the tar sands, Kinder Morgan’s existing Trans Mountain pipeline system currently transports jet fuel from the Burnaby Chevron refinery and Westridge terminal facilities to the Burnaby Terminal and the Vancouver International Airport. Chemicals used in the transport of bitumen and other fuels, such as benzene, are known carcinogens according to both Canadian and US authorities.

To read more about the Nevada “cancer cluster” and lawsuit, visit:
http://www.mynews4.com/news/local/story/fallon-cancer-cluster/--P1ofP56UqVNbV3tPtJDg.cspx