BURNABY, B.C. -- Kinder Morgan is pulling its equipment out early from Burnaby Mountain -- the area at the centre of anti-pipeline protests in Metro Vancouver.
Lisa Clement, with Trans Mountain media relations, said much of the equipment must be removed by helicopter, so crews wrapped up survey work early to meet a court-ordered deadline of Sunday night.
Clement said crews finished one of two drilling holes that had been planned, going down 150 metres. The survey work will give the company enough information to present to the National Energy Board for a decision on the pipeline expansion, she said.
"We have samples which we can provide photos of and it shows the different types of rock that goes that deep. So far, from early feasibility, it appears to be a stable area to put the pipeline."
On Thursday, a B.C. Supreme Court judge refused to extend a court injunction against protesters for another 12 days, forcing Kinder Morgan to pack up before it completed its work.
The company also admitted to the court that it provided incorrect GPS co-ordinates when it initially sought the injunction, prompting the judge to throw out civil contempt charges against dozens of activists who had been protesting the survey work.
The growing protest camp on Burnaby Mountain, which is also home to a conservation site and Simon Fraser University, forced the company to go to court to ask for the injunction.
Clement said crews will need clear weather, favourable winds and daylight to remove the remaining equipment. She said Friday that she thinks all equipment will be removed from the site on time.
