Burnaby planning disaster emergency exercise for Trans Mountain facilities [Video]

The City of Burnaby, B.C., is planning a “full-scale emergency exercise” on Burnaby Mountain aimed at testing and assessing its response capabilities in the case of a major incident at the Trans Mountain facilities.

The city says the risk of a catastrophic event is low but it wants to strike a balance that acknowledges an incident could occur.

“Our primary focus at the City of Burnaby is keeping our community safe and this mock exercise will help us prepare and respond more effectively,” Mayor Mike Hurley said.

While the city had previously opposed the expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline and its terminus in Burnaby, Hurley acknowledged the project is both complete and operational.

“With increased oil transport, comes increased risk,” he said. “We want to fully understand the risks, increase our capacity to respond and ensure we have the right partners at the table to support a safe, reliable and timely emergency response.”

As a part of the work, …