Join with those opposed to the Kinder Morgan Pipeline and Tank Farm Expansion to send a message that our this expansion is unsafe and must be stopped.

Kinder Morgan Tank Farm Die-In hosted by BROKE and 350 Vancouver
Monday, Oct 23 10am
3292 Production Way, Burnaby (just outside the skytrain station)

What: We will be “dying” in front of the regional offices of the federal Ministry of Public Safety to draw attention to the unacceptable risks associated with the Kinder Morgan tank farm expansion. Join us!!

At the same time we will be presenting a letter, signed by a broad range of community, teacher and student groups, as well as unions and many others, addressed to Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale. He is being held accountable for his decision, along with that of Liberal Cabinet Ministers and Justin Trudeau, to overrule local authority objections and approve this project. Ralph Goodale and the Ministry of Public Safety have shirked their responsibilities and not even begun to do the job they are mandated to do!

Where: Immediately adjacent to the Production Way Skytrain Station outside the BC/Yukon Regional Office of the Ministry of Public Safety at 3292 Production Way (just a skip and a hop down from the tank farm!).

The risks posed by the tank farm expansion are well documented in independent reports and most clearly articulated in the Burnaby Fire Department Risk Analysis. The Fire Department has stated that “due to insufficient firefighting deployment positions increases the likelihood of a multiple tank fire (including the potential of having to allow one or several storage tanks to burnout over 2-4 days), toxic smoke plume discharge (including long term chemical exposure to adjacent communities), and heat discharge to areas outside the facility (including high probability of fire extension to the forest areas of the Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area... would create scenarios where fire containment is not possible.”

With only one route off Burnaby Mountain, SFU students, staff and residents on the mountain will be trapped and are asked to “shelter in place” in the midst of this “toxic plume” should there be a fire triggered by a spill, earthquake or other human or mechanical failure.

The federal government response to the inability to deal with the disastrous life safety and health issues in the event of a tank farm fire is to say there won’t be a fire. This response is unacceptable in BC in the design of a garage, let alone for an oil storage depot containing 5 million barrels of combustible and toxic material in highly populated city area. Kinder Morgan’s responsibilities end at the tank farm fence line. Beyond that there is no plan and a clearly stated inability by the first responders to contain a fire.
Having created this situation, Minister Goodale, through his ministry, is failing to acknowledge his responsibility to keep the public safe. The mandate of the Ministry of Public Safety is to address

“natural, human induced, and technological hazards” and to coordinate “emergency management activities amongst government, institutions and work in cooperation with provinces and other entities such as first responders, volunteers organizations and communities….supporting a whole-of-society approach to emergency management”.