Opposition to the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion proposal is picking up speed as Lower Mainland residents prepare to seek intervenor status to stop it.

Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain pipeline system pumps thousands of barrels of oil a day underground through Burnaby, B.C.

The Texas-based company now wants to twin the current pipeline to increase capacity from 300,000 barrels of oil a day to 750,000, and residents are fiercely opposed.

Burnaby resident Christy Cunningham’s townhouse is steps away from a well-used trail that marks the pipeline.

“Things always go wrong with these pipelines,” Cunningham said. “It’s not a matter of if it’s a matter of when.”

The pipeline has already had problems in the past. In 2007, a Kinder Morgan pipe was punctured by work crews, leaving a neighbourhood along Burnaby’s Inlet Drive covered in oil.

Burnaby resident Glen Porter remembers the spill well.

“The Inlet Drive spill was a huge wake up call for all of us,” said Porter, who lives in co-op housing close to the pipeline. “We want to ensure if anything goes wrong that it can be made right.”

Dozens of residents opposing the pipeline have retained a lawyer and are seeking intervenor status at the National Energy Board hearing where Kinder Morgan will be asking to set the toll on its pipeline.

Opponents are hoping to get some facts at the meeting.

“We don't know how much insurance Kinder Morgan has,” said Karen Campbell, spokesperson for Ecojustice. “We don't know insurance would be adequate to cover, and we don't know if Kinder Morgan would show up right away and help these people.”

B.C. Minister of Environment Terry Lake said the government shares the concern of Burnaby residents.

“Certainly in terms of liability we share their concern that under the current system there's not enough liability insurance to cover major spills,” Lake said. “So that's something that we've done some work on and we need to ensure people that the tax payers are not left on the hook for any adverse event that may incur.”

Lake said, like the Northern Gateway project, the Kinder Morgan expansion would have to meet the five requirements outlined last week by the provincial government on heavy oil pipelines.

With a report from CTV British Columbia’s Keri Adams