CALGARY – The National Energy Board says it’s responding to a spill from Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain line near Merritt, B.C., but the company says the public and the environment are not at risk.
The energy watchdog said it doesn’t yet know the size of the leak, which took place on Crown land but a release from Kinder Morgan says only about two cubic metres, or 12 barrels, of light crude was detected.
The release, from spokesman Andy Galarnyk in Calgary, said the leak was found during regular maintenance late Wednesday afternoon near Kingsvale, about 40 kilometres south of Merritt, along Highway 5, in B.C.’s southern Interior.
The NEB reported the pipeline had been shut down and Galarnyk confirmed Kinder Morgan staff were at the scene overnight and are working to repair the line.
The company release said the oil is fully contained, none has seeped into any waterways and there is no threat to the public.
The Trans Mountain line ships 300,000 barrels per day of various petroleum products from Alberta to the B.C. Lower Mainland and Washington State.