Tank farm debate grows

By Dan Hilborn
Published Sept. 2, 2006


A proposal to expand the Kinder Morgan tank farm on Burnaby Mountain will be kept under the watchful eye of city council, even though some of that scrutiny might have to be done behind closed doors.

That was the word from Mayor Derek Corrigan this week after rookie Team Burnaby Coun. Garth Evans said that he's hearing lots of negative comments about the proposal to build at least one and possibly five new storage tanks at the facility.

"I've had a really strong adverse reaction from people in the area," Evans said at the Aug. 28 council meeting as he announced his intention to seek some way to "restrict the future expansion."

Evans' comments prompted the mayor to confirm that city staff are already preparing a formal response to the plan, but that report might have to be presented to an in-camera session of council.

Contacted after the meeting, both Corrigan and Evans said that they'd like their concerns discussed in the open "as much as possible," but there may be sensitive legal concerns that might have to first be presented at a private meeting.

"If we're going to get legal advice, we're going to have to have that in a closed meeting," said Corrigan, a lawyer. "One does not want to disclose your legal advice to the party on the other side. And I suspect Kinder Morgan won't invite us to their meetings with their lawyers."

Evans said he would take steps to ensure that only the most sensitive legal matters are discussed behind closed doors. "In general, I favour doing the city's business in public, not in private. I think people have the right to know what's happening and what we're doing."

Evans also confirmed that he is hearing many comments that the tank farm might have to move completely outside of Burnaby, and away from all the populated urban areas of the Lower Mainland.

"People seem to be very upset about the possibility of adding tanks to that facility. The comments I've been getting have been very adamant in their opposition," he said. "There seems to be a general feeling that this is not the kind of thing we'd like to have in our community.

"I'd like to work to relocate it, and I certainly don't want to expand it," he said. "I don't think a tank farm is the kind of thing that should be in the middle of a residential community."

Evans noted that when the facility was first built in 1952, there were no homes in the neighbourhood, which has since seen the construction of the busy Forest Grove community and the development of the SFU UniverCity neighbourhood, which will eventually bring another 10,000 residents to the top of Burnaby Mountain. "If that (new development) has created conflict, then the long-term solution is to move the tank farm where it doesn't impact people and where they live. ... We need to look at our options very closely."

But Corrigan urged caution in how city council handles the file. "Obviously there are very significant differences in Burnaby from the time when these kinds of facilities were originally built and today," said the mayor. "A major urban metropolis has grown up and that has very much changed the dynamics of the city.

"It's extremely difficult to take on the issue of moving such a huge facility.

"One does not want to overreact to a situation either," Corrigan said. "We have to make sure we have all of the information before us. While it's pretty clear that Coun. Evans wants to stake himself out early, I've learned over 20 years of politics to get all of the information before I make a decision."

Corrigan said any future changes at the tank farm would likely follow one of the paths taken by two of the city's other major petroleum handling facilities - the Shellburn refinery that has since been downgraded to a storage and distribution facility, and the Chevron refinery which has undertaken a series of equipment upgrades and environmental improvements over the past decade.

"These are businesses that have been in Burnaby for decades, and they are certainly businesses with a long history in the community of running their operation in a reasonable manner. So it doesn't seem fair or appropriate to jump all over them before we know what all the facts are."

Corrigan noted that a formal proposal to expand the tank farm has still not been received at city hall. "I think that basically Kinder Morgan has simply flown the flag and said 'This is something that in the long term we'd like to do,'" he said. "I don't get the impression from the report that Kinder Morgan has fleshed out its ideas. I guess they're gauging the reaction of the city and the public.

"This is not something I anticipate happening next year. I think it's a longer term project," he said. "Like any other proposal, there may be a compromised that can be reached that can achieve a better result for everyone where Kinder Morgan gets what they want and we get improvements for the community.

Corrigan also indicated that he might be more concerned if Kinder Morgan came up with a proposal to expand the network of pipelines in and around Burnaby.

"I want to treat Kinder Morgan the same way we treat Chevron, Electronic Arts or any of the number of private organizations out there. If I believe it's disadvantageous to the city or harmful to the city we'll be looking to take a very strong position on it."

THE TANK FARM BY THE NUMBERS

- The 77-hectare (189-acre) tank farm has been on Burnaby Mountain since 1953. It is home to 13 petroleum storage tanks with a total volume of 270,000 cubic metres (1.7 million barrels). Kinder Morgan Canada purchased the facility last year as part of its $6.9 billion acquisition of Terasen Gas Inc.

- If approved, the TMX-2 project would add one new 35,000 m3 (220,000 barrel) tank to the Burnaby Mountain facility by the year 2009, and possible five more new tanks in the ensuing years.

- The TMX-2 project also proposes to add another 495 kilometres of pipeline between Alberta and B.C., while expanding capacity at its Edmonton tank farm by 70,000 m3, and at its Sumas tank farm by 24,000 m3.