West Coast Environmental Law just learned that Kinder Morgan has received an illegal park use permit from the BC government to allow it to research pipeline routes through 5 of BC’s parks and protected areas. And rather than recognizing that parks should be off-limits to pipelines, the BC government has rushed through an amendment to the Park Act to authorize this type of permit in the future.
On March 24th, the BC government amended our Parks Act and weakened protection by allowing industrial “research” – including research into the feasibility of pipelines – where it was once banned. Now we’ve learned that pipeline giant Kinder Morgan was granted a “research” permit back in November 2013, when they were likely illegal. Environment Minster Mary Polak admitted as much in Question Period last month.
The Parks Act amendments could forever change BC’s parks by allowing industry to remove protected parkland for their projects. Let’s tell Minister Polak to revoke Kinder Morgan’s illegal permits and stop changing BC’s laws to benefit industry.
Click here to send a letter to your Minister Polak, Premier Christy Clark, and your MLA
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