Canada’s Trans Mountain ordered to stop work over environmental non-compliance

By Ismail Shakil and Nia Williams

OTTAWA (Reuters) -The Canada Energy Regulator (CER) on Thursday ordered the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project to stop work in a wetland area near Abbotsford, British Columbia, after inspectors found several environmental and safety-related non-compliances.

Some of the non-compliances include insufficient fencing to protect amphibians and unapproved vegetation clearing, the regulator said in a notice on its website.

The CER issued an Inspection Officer Order to Trans Mountain ordering it to stop work in the wetland until the non-compliances are corrected, investigate their root cause and conduct a safety inspection to confirm the site is safe for work.

Trans Mountain Corp, the Canadian government-owned corporation building the expansion project, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The 590,000 barrel-per-day oil pipeline expansion project is due to start operating early next year and will open up markets in Asia and on the U.S. West Coast for Canadian crude.

However, construction has been plagued by regulatory delays and cost over-runs and the expansion is set to cost C$30.9 billion ($22.49 billion), more than four times its original budget.

In 2021, Trans Mountain was ordered to stop work for four months to protect hummingbird nests along a one-kilometre section of its route.