COQUITLAM, B.C. - The Transportation Safety Board says a series of mistakes and miscommunications set off a crude oil spill that blackened a Burnaby, B.C., neighbourhood.

The board's report says the field location of the pipeline wasn't properly indicated on design drawings done 50 years before the spill.

A backhoe excavating a sewer line trench pierced the pipeline in July 2007, sending a geyser of thick crude over nearby homes.

The report says inadequate communication between pipeline owner Kinder Morgan Canada and the contractor doing the sewer work resulted in no common understanding of the project work plan.

It also says emergency shut-down procedures for the pipeline weren't properly done and that resulted in more crude oil being released than necessary.

About 234,000 litres of oil sprayed from the pipeline, forcing about 250 people from their homes.