A Kamloops Councillor is set to ask his colleagues for support to have the Trans Mountain Pipeline under Westsyde moved and decommissioned.

Councillor Denis Walsh says this issue came to his attention when the Canadian Energy Regulator came to council at the end of last year. He has a number of concerns about possible issues that could arise as a result of aging infrastructure. “If there was any kind of a leak in that pipeline because of benzine and what’s happening in other areas, Michigan and stuff like that, that they’ve had to permanently evacuate residents. The risk is is that if your living overtop of a pipeline, especially a 66 year old pipeline, there is definitely a health and safety risk.”

Walsh will bring the issue forward on the first Kamloops City Council meeting of 2020 which is set for January 14th. He says if it is going to happen it needs to be done when the twinning work is already occurring. “The timing is now. It’s not like we’re just coming out of nowhere asking this cause they are digging a trench through Lac du Bois. In our estimation to put two pipes in there would be really smart in terms of limiting the liability to the Westsyde residents.”

“There’s no real downside to the city asking or requesting to move this pipeline. It doesn’t cost us anything. To me it’s doing our due diligence to protect the health and safety of residents.”

Walsh says if council signs off on making the request, it would then go to the Canadian Energy Regulator which could force Trans-Mountain to move the line during the twinning work.