Trans Mountain pipeline could be restarted by end of week: Company

Pipe for the Trans Mountain pipeline is unloaded in Edson, Alta. on June 18, 2019. (THE CANADIAN PRESS / Jason Franson)

CALGARY -

The company that owns the Trans Mountain pipeline says it remains optimistic the pipeline could be restarted by the end of the week.

Trans Mountain Corp. says it has 350 people working around the clock to restart the pipeline, which has been shut down as a precaution since Nov. 14 due to the flooding in British Columbia.

The company says over the weekend, crews hiked or were airlifted into areas where there is still no road access to inspect the pipe.

Trans Mountain says there is no indication of any spill from the pipeline. As a precaution, the company has deployed spill-response equipment at control points in river areas near to or downstream from where it is working.

The Trans Mountain pipeline is a critical piece of energy infrastructure for B.C. and Washington state. This is the longest period the pipeline has been shut down in its nearly 70-year history.

Enbridge Inc. also temporarily shut down a segment of one of two pipelines that make up its Westcoast natural gas pipeline last week due to the heavy flooding in B.C.

Enbridge says it was able to maintain natural gas service in spite of the event and has since increased capacity on the system. It says the Westcoast pipeline is now transporting 1.63 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas, above 100 per cent of total contracted volume transported last year at this time.

Canadian Pacific Railway Co. announced Monday that it will reopen its railway between Kamloops, B.C. and Vancouver by mid-day Tuesday, Nov. 23. CP says crews have been working around the clock since Nov. 14 to repair 30 locations across CP's Thompson and Cascade subdivisions that were damaged in the flooding.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2021.