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Crude oil pipeline bursts near Burnaby, BC

by Kaitlin | July 24, 2007 at 01:48 pm

4909 views | 45 Recommendations | 9 comments

UPDATE: Nearly two days after the spill, many Burnaby residents whose homes and properties were within reach of the oil spray are being told that it is unknown when they can return to their homes, or--in some cases--if they can return at all. In addition, the US company in charge of the pipeline, Kinder Morgan, doesn't exactly have a reputation for safety or safe practices:

B. Cusano Contracting declined comment when contacted by the Straight.
Shortly before Kinder Morgan took over Terasen in 2005, the Straight
reported that the U.S. energy giant had racked up large fines in the
U.S. for safety violations, including a gas explosion that killed five
and injured four others in San Francisco's Bay Area in 2004.

In addition, the construction company (B. Cusano, mentioned above) was supposed to follow formal guidelines for construction around pipelines, including providing a wide berth around oil lines. So far, it's not clear why these guidelines were not followed. The guidelines would have been monitered by Kinder Morgan.

Shawn Soucy for Spirit Media has provided NowPublic with this amazing video of the oil spill. Click on the big black video screen to the right.

A construction crew apparently ruptured at 24-inch oil pipeline while digging on a city street.

Burnaby is a community near Vancouver, British Columbia. There is a nearby oil refinery on Burrard Inlet.

A pipeline running under a highway in Burnaby, B.C. ruptured after a reported roadwork accident, spilling huge amounts of oil.

The oil gushed for a reported 25 minutes before crews were able to staunch the flow.

Officials cancelled an initial evacuation order now that the leak has been contained. However, and there are fears that a major environmental problem may be developing.

3 See all footage | View Slideshow

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recommend This comment thread is now closed

Kaitlin

at 13:52 on July 24th, 2007

Keeping an eye on this one...will update as necessary.

ryan

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 14:01 on July 24th, 2007

Kaitlin, Good Stuff. More info and pics coming in...

Victoria Revay

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 14:02 on July 24th, 2007

Kaitlin, thanks for getting on this so quickly. Good thing we don't hav to travel to Burnaby today.

Actual News Geezer

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 14:02 on July 24th, 2007

IF there are any contributors who can get shots of this please do.

Nicole Billard

at 14:30 on July 24th, 2007

Yikes... environment canada may have an update.... I'll post it if they do!

ryan

flagged this story as News Wanted

at 14:34 on July 24th, 2007

I think this is an important story and would benefit from other NowPublic contributors working on it. I've flagged it as News Wanted and invite others in relevant locations to look for more evidence.

shmoomie

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 14:36 on July 24th, 2007

Thanks for posting this Kaitlin, i don't have my highlighter set up at work. Good stuff.

ryan

at 14:50 on July 24th, 2007

Kaitlin, thanks for getting this story out so quickly. It will now show up on the home page for four hours. If new developments justify it, I'll renew this flag for another cycle.