VANCOUVER - The National Energy Board has dismissed a motion by Kinder Morgan asking the federal regulator to forbid the City of Burnaby from blocking the company's pipeline survey work.
The board says in a decision released Thursday that Kinder Morgan is essentially asking it to force Burnaby not to enforce its bylaws, and the board can't do that.
It says before it can decide on such an order, Kinder Morgan must first raise constitutional questions about whether the board actually has the legal authority to determine if the bylaws apply to the company.
The motion was filed by Kinder Morgan earlier this month after Burnaby halted the company's survey work, saying cutting down trees and boring large holes in the ground violate the city's bylaws.
At issue is Burnaby's opposition to the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline and Kinder Morgan's proposal to tunnel through Burnaby Mountain in its attempt to survey a new pipeline route.
The city had applied for an injunction to block Kinder Morgan from conducting the survey work, but a B.C. Supreme Court judge dismissed the application last week.
