Times Colonist E-edition

Trans Mountain pipeline to restart Monday after shutdown during floods

The Trans Mountain pipeline is set to restart on Monday after record-setting rainfall, devastating flooding and landslides last month prompted a three-week precautionary shutdown that led to fuel rationing in parts of B.C.

Trans Mountain Corp. said Saturday it has completed detailed investigations of the integrity of the 1,150-kilometre pipeline, which carries 300,000 barrels per day of petroleum products from Alberta to B.C., as well as geotechnical assessments of the surrounding landscape to confirm it is safe to restart.

It said the restart will take place on Monday, subject to approval by the Canada Energy Regulator, and the pipeline will be closely monitored with emergency management teams set up in key areas “in the unlikely event of a release.”

The company said restarting the pipeline has required “a significant, sustained effort” to re-establish access lost due to damaged roads, changes in river flows and adverse weather during the shutdown that began on Nov. 14.

The federal Crown corporation said the pipe “remained safely in a static condition” during the shutdown with no indication of serious damage.

Additional work in the coming weeks will include the “armouring of riverbanks” and adding ground cover or relocating sections of the pipeline, the corporation said.

Trans Mountain is the only pipeline in North America that carries both oil and refined products. The shutdown has been the longest in its history.

Drivers who aren’t operating essential vehicles have been asked to limit their fuel purchases to 30 litres per visit to a gas station until Dec. 14. The restrictions are in place on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, as well as in the Lower Mainland from Vancouver to Hope, the Seato-Sky region, and the Sunshine Coast.

A section of Highway 99 in British Columbia has reopened to essential travel after it was closed Wednesday so crews could clean up after a landslide.

The route between Pemberton and Lillooet is the same area where four people died and one remained missing after an initial storm on Nov. 14.

The Transportation Ministry says the roughly 80-kilometre stretch starting just north of Pemberton is restricted to essential travel for reasons such as going to work as essential personnel or transporting key supplies.

It says vehicles weighing more than 14,500 kilograms cannot yet safely travel on the mountainous route with narrow sections and sharp curves.

Checkpoints will be in place to enforce the travel restrictions.

The ministry says highway infrastructure is vulnerable after a series of storms battered the province last month and people should be aware that Highway 99 and others could be closed at any time if conditions change.

Travel advisories were in place for Highway 1 between Abbotsford, Chilliwack and Hope and up the Fraser Canyon toward Boothroyd, where certain stretches were open to singlelane alternating traffic. The highway remained closed from Boothroyd north to Lytton and Spences Bridge.

Highway 5, the Coquihalla, remained closed in both directions between Hope and Merritt. Transportation Minister Rob Fleming said Friday that the province is in the planning stages of determining temporary measures to open the major artery between B.C.’s Lower Mainland and the Interior.

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2021-12-05T08:00:00.0000000Z

2021-12-05T08:00:00.0000000Z

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