Update: Several activists arrested on Kinder Morgan barge
Police arrested seven activists aboard a Kinder Morgan drilling barge near the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby Monday morning.
According to anti-pipeline activist Adam Gold, two protesters boarded the barge Sunday and stayed overnight. More protesters arrived to join them and bring supplies Monday morning. That’s when police showed up and removed the group.
Video: Burnaby Mountain Updates
According to the Burnaby RCMP, seven protesters were arrested with help from the Lower Mainland Emergency Response Team.
“Early this morning, the Burnaby RCMP was asked to remove the protestors as it was not safe for them to remain onboard and they were impeding the work being performed on the barge,” the police stated in a release. “The Burnaby RCMP would like to remind the public that the drilling barge is private property and as such those persons arrested will be facing criminal mischief charges.”
On Sunday, activists issued a news release saying they had seized the Kinder Morgan drilling barge on the Burrard Inlet, around noon.
In the release on Facebook, it said, “Kinder Morgan has not undertaken the necessary consultation with Hereditary Chiefs, and they are infringing upon the sovereignty of indigenous people of the unceded lands and waters here in Coast Salish Territory.”
It also announced that two activists had taken direct action, stating “This action is in solidarity with all indigenous nations displaced by the Tar Sands, along the current and proposed Kinder Morgan pipeline routes, and in solidarity with the Secwepemc Nation and Secwepemc Woman Warrior Society.”
Kinder Morgan is drilling boreholes around the Westridge Marine Terminal – similar to the survey work that spurred mass protests on Burnaby Mountain last fall. The work will continue until Feb 29.
Kinder Morgan’s $6.8-billion plan to expand the Trans Mountain pipeline includes expanding the Westridge Marine Terminal, where tankers fill up with crude.
The Westridge dock is slated for expansion if Kinder Morgan gets approval to twin the Trans Mountain pipeline. The company is drilling around the dock to collect soil samples, which is upsetting some pipeline opponents. Photograph By Jennifer Moreau. Burnaby Now
The Westridge Marine Terminal falls within the traditional territory of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, which is opposed to the pipeline expansion.
By Red Power Media, Staff, Updated Jan 19, 2016
RED POWER MEDIA 