UPDATED: JULY 19, 2019
We spent many hours pouring over old records, press releases and news articles to generate this complete time line of all things Trans Mountain.
Many of the entries are linked to specific websites as references. Entries without link were mostly taken from THIS file sourced from the now defunct BCWaters.org site.
We also have picture gallery of both old and new Trans Mountain images HERE.
| 1947 Feb | Oil discovered near Leduc (near Edmonton) Alberta |
| 1951 Mar | Trans Mountain Pipeline Company Company created by a special act of parliament & owned by Canadian Bechtel & Std Oil |
| 1951 Apr | Special Act of Canadian Parliament to “transport crude oil from Edmonton to Vancouver” was “built to serve the needs of U.S. armed forces”. |
| 1952 Feb | $93M ($884M in 2018 dollars) 718 mile 24″ diameter TransMountain pipeline construction began |
| 1953 Oct | First oil flows through Trans Mountain Pipeline from Edmonton to Burnaby ocean tanker dock |
| 1956 Nov | Pumping station drive shaft catches fire near Jasper and destroys the station |
| 1957 Feb | Trans Mountain announces construction of a major supertanker dock in Burrard Inlet BC |
| 1971 | BC Legislature formally opposes tanker traffic as a response to many serious spills in other countries |
| 1971 Apr | Trans Mountain pipeline breaches due to landslide and washout near Merritt spilling 150,000 gallons |
| 1971 Apr | Trans Mountain awarded $340K ($2.1M in 2018 dollars) in damages from sawmill that caused washout and spill |
| 1972 Mar | Parliament unanimously blocks West Coast oil tanker traffic as “inimical to Canadian interests” |
| 1972 May | “The Trans Mountain Oil Pipe Line Co” renamed to “Trans Mountain Pipeline Company Limited” |
| 1973 | Trans Mountain breach near Ferndale refinery – no hard numbers but reported as small |
| 1974 Nov | Trans Mountain makes its final payment of long term debt for the initial construction of the pipeline |
| 1975 May | Trans Mountain publishes feasibility study for supertankers off Washington State coastline |
| 1975 Jul | Trans Mountain proposes reversing oil flow to bring oil from Washington State to Edmonton to respond to Canadian policy to discontinue all oil exports by 1981 |
| 1979 Sept | Trans Mountain applies to NEB to increase tanker transport via double sized vessels rather than using more vessels |
| 1980 Dec | BC NDP file submission to NEB against Trans Mountains request to twin the line |
| 1985 Jan | Trans Mountain owned tank farm near Edmonton leaks about 10,000 barrels |
| 1989 Apr | Trans Mountain President predicts twinning in the near future |
| 1994 Nov | Trans Mountain amalgamates with BC Gas |
| 2003 | BC Gas Inc renamed to Terasen |
| 2004 Jun | Parallel pipeline construction between Hinton Ab and Hargreaves BC |
| 2005 Jul | Pipeline breach in Abbotsford caused 13,000 barrels to spill; unrelated contractor put huge weight onto set back area |
| 2005 Nov | Houston based Kinder Morgan buys Terasen for for $5.6B |
| 2007 Mar | Fortis acquires all of BC Gas/Terasen assets except pipelines from Kinder Morgan but keeps the Terasen name until 2011 |
| 2007 Jul | Pipeline breach in Burnaby caused 1450 barrels to spill; some of it sprayed on houses; mostly recovered |
| 2008 | Parallel pipeline completed increasing capacity form 260,000 to 300,000 barrels per day |
| 2009 | Pipeline breach in Burnaby caused 1920 barrels to spill |
| 2012 | Pipeline breach in Sumas caused 570 barrels to spill into a containment area |
| 2012 Feb | Kinder Morgan announces public consultations on twinning Trans Mountain |
| 2013 Dec | NEB received Trans Mountain application for twinning to start in 2017 and finish in 2019 |
| 2015 Aug | NEB postpones public hearings because it hires one of Kinder Morgans key consultants |
| 2016 Jan 16 | Alberta Premier Notley sends formal letter of support for the twinning to the NEB |
| 2016 Jan 27 | Trudeau Federal Government states the NEB must consider the greenhouse emissions from extraction, production & transport |
| 2016 May 17 | NEB appoints 3 member panel to review Trans Mountain twinning proposal |
| 2016 May 29 | NEB approves twinning with 157 conditions |
| 2016 June 15 | BC based Squamish Nation files challenge to Trans Mountain expansion with the Federal Court of Appeal |
| 2016 Nov 29 | Trudeau Federal Government approves Trans Mountain twinning and Enbridge’s Line 3 but kills Northern Gateway |
| 2017 Jan 11 | BC Premier Christy Clarke announces support for twinning and claims revenue sharing agreement will bring $1B to BC |
| 2017 Jan 17 | 7 out of 51 First Nations oppose the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion |
| 2017 May 15 | Province of Alberta granted Intervener Status at Federal Court of Appeal hearings |
| 2017 May 25 | Kinder Morgan estimates design, consultation and construction costs to be $7.4B |
| 2017 May 25 | Kinder Morgan (Houston) announces formation of Kinder Morgan Canada to fund the twinning |
| 2017 May 30 | Kinder Morgan Canada raises $1.75B in IPO |
| 2017 July 18 | Newly elected BC Premier John Horgan announces new minority government support with support of Green Party |
| 2017 July 26 | BC Attorney General states they will not stall permitting because they are afraid of the lawsuits |
| 2017 Aug 11 | Horgan BC Government announces plan to fight Trans Mountain expansion by manipulating First Nations |
| 2017 Fall | City of Burnaby continuously denied and delay permits for frivoulous reasons |
| 2017 Dec 17 | NEB allows twinning process to bypass Burnaby’s bylaws |
| 2018 Jan 17 | Kinder Morgan states the twinning is now a year behind schedule |
| 2018 Jan 18 | NEB announces process to resolve municipal and provincial permitting issues |
| 2018 Jan 30 | Horgan BC Government restricts bitumen oil shipments to further stifle Trans Mountain |
| 2018 Mar 23 | Federal Court of Appeal dismisses BC challenge to NEB ruling allowing Kinder Morgan to bypass Burnaby bylaws |
| 2018 Mar 27 | Burnaby announces a Supreme Court appeal of the March 23 Federal Court of Appeal dismissal of bylaw related appeal |
| 2018 Apr 8 | Kinder Morgan announces suspension of Trans Mountain spending until May 31 deadline to have final political approval |
| 2018 May 10 | Alberta announces pro-Trans Mountain expansion ad campaign |
| 2018 May 29 | Federal Government agrees to buy the existing Trans Mountain line and the expansion project for $4.5B from Kinder Morgan |
| 2018 Jul 9 | First Nations announce they want to buy in and own a significant equity stake in Trans Mountain |
| 2018 Aug 23 | Canadian Supreme Court dismisses Barnaby’s appeal of the Federal Court of Appeals decision on Burnaby bylaws |
| 2018 Aug 30 | Federal Court of Appeal decides the NEB review needed to action First Nation concerns and consider tanker traffic issues |
| 2018 Aug 30 | Alberta Premier Notley demands appeal to the Supreme Court |
| 2018 Aug 31 | Trans Mountain pipeline and expansion ownership changes to the new formed Trans Mountain Corporation |
| 2018 Sep 7 | Trudeau Federal Government publicly rejects a wide range of politically motivated investigations and queries |
| 2018 Sep 21 | Alberta Premier Notley launches second round of pro-Trans Mountain pipeline expansion advertising |
| 2018 Sep 26 | NEB announces it will hold consultations on Trans Mountain related oil tanker traffic to be completed by Feb 22 2019 |
| 2018 Sep 26 | Trans Mountain CEO expects Trans Mountain construction to start in 2019 |
| 2018 Oct 3 | Trudeau Federal Government says Supreme Court challenge will only slow down the Trans Mountain approval process |
| 2018 Oct 3 | Trudeau Federal Government appoints former Judge to oversee additional First Nations consultation on Trans Mountain |
| 2018 Oct 21 | Burnaby elects new Mayor that is opposed to Trans Mountain personally but will not attempt to block it |
| 2018 Nov 21 | Federal Government quietly shows Trans Mountain pipeline earns $200M /year in the ‘Fall Economic Statement’ |
| 2018 Dec 4 | Trudeau apologizes to First Nations for Trans Mountain consultation failures |
UPDATED: July 19, 2019
Take a look at our Trans Mountain image gallery HERE.
0 Comments