Chilliwack – Now that the Trans Mountain Pipeline is back on track (barring further action from First Nations concerns) comes a situation for the Chilliwack School Board.
How to deal with Trans Mountain and the NEB decision to forge ahead with the twinning of the pipeline.
The Chilliwack School Board was unanimous in their move to send their statement of opposition to the NEB for the proposal of the pipeline project that would cut through school properties.
In Chilliwack, the construction will eventually cut through the Chilliwack Aquifer, and also have an impact on two school properties. Vedder Middle School and Watson Elementary. The pipeline comes very close to Unsworth Elementary. (With current legal challenges underway, in particuar, First Nations concerns, a construction timeline for Chilliwack has not yet been set)
The NEB Alternative Dispute Resolution Process came into question at Wednesday night’s special meeting of school board. The topic is what if anything can be done to shift the pipeline from the school properties.
The NEB gave 30 days notice in August for the school board to make their concerns known. As many in the office were on holidays, it was a rush to get paperwork filled out and sent off to the NEB. September 13 was the deadline.
NOTE: that the School Board previously took a vote in June opposing the pipeline on SD33 grounds.
The Video of the meeting can be found here which starts after the 20:00 mark.
