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Details about Langley oil pipeline revealed

The Trans-Mountain oil pipeline goes through both rural and urban areas of Langley.

The Times has been able to gather more information about the route of the Trans-Mountain pipeline through Langley, thanks to a former Trans-Mountain employee who provided the newspaper with some additional details.

The Langley resident was first employed to keep the pipeline right-of-way clear of brush, and later worked for the company in maintaining the pipeline through the Fraser Valley, and to its terminal on Burnaby Mountain. From there, some crude oil is shipped by tanker, some goes to the Chevron refinery in Burnaby, and refined fuels go to other oil companies and to a jet fuel terminal at the Vancouver Airport.

In Langley, the pipeline comes from the east near 56 Avenue, adjacent to the Gloucester Industrial Park. It crosses north Langley, north of the freeway, diagonally in a northwest direction.

It remains on the high ground for most of its route through Langley, and crosses 240 Street near 80 Avenue. It continues on the high ground, crossing the CN Rawlison rail line that connects the main CN line to the CP line to Deltaport near 232 Street.

From the Rawlison rail line, the pipeline cuts to the northwest, and is adjacent to the well-known “castle” on Rawlison Crescent, once owned by the late Fritz Ziegler.

Just west of there, the pipeline crosses the Salmon River and then cuts through Belmont Golf Course.

From there it continues in a northwesterly direction to Walnut Grove, where it  goes through a number of residential neighbourhoods. Much of the right-of-way in Walnut Grove is occupied by walking and cycling trails.

West of 202 Street, the pipeline goes through commercial and industrial areas and enters Surrey near 94 Avenue in the Port Kells industrial area. In Surrey, it remains north of Highway 1 until about 108 Avenue. It crosses the freeway in an area that is now subject of heavy construction,as a result of the Port Mann Bridge project and freeway widening. It crosses the Fraser River just to the west of the new Port Mann bridge.

A twinned pipeline, proposed by Kinder Morgan, may follow a new route to avoid urban areas, the company has said.

On April 12, Kinder Morgan announced it is planning to greatly expand the capacity of the Trans-Mountain oil pipeline.

The pipeline, which began operation in 1953, ships both crude oil and refined products from Edmonton to Burnaby. Some of its contents are shipped south of the border through a branch in Abbotsford that goes to the U.S.

If the pipeline expansion is approved, there will be major construction all along the route.

It is possible that additional pipeline capacity in the Walnut Grove area will be built along a different route, as Kinder Morgan Canada president Ian Anderson has said the pipeline expansion may have to follow new routes in urban areas.