Oil spill near Merritt smaller than earlier thought

MERRITT – The National Energy Board says an oil spill that forced the shutdown of the Trans Mountain pipeline near Merritt this week amounted to less than two barrels.

That’s about 320 litres of oil — a tiny amount compared to the 300,000 barrels the pipeline ships each day.

Yesterday, Kinder Morgan said 12 barrels of light crude had leaked.

Still, environmentalists say the spill highlights their concerns about Kinder Morgan‘s plans to vastly expand the pipeline’s capacity.

Rebecca Taylor with the NEB says the board will determine the exact amount of the spill during its investigation in the coming days.

Despite the small amount of oil leaked, Taylor says the board considers any release of oil as a serious incident.

Taylor says Kinder Morgan closed the pipeline immediately after the leak was discovered during routine maintenance Wednesday and has removed the contaminated soil from the area.

The board has the ability to keep the pipeline shut down until its safety concerns are satisfied, but Taylor says new regulations allowing the board to issue fines don’t take into effect until July.

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