Good news for parents of Stoney Creek Elementary students: soil testing results show there’s nothing in the ground related to the Kinder Morgan oil pipeline that runs beneath the school property.
The news should come as a relief to staff and parents, who were raising concerns about the pipeline’s proximity.
“We are pleased that Kinder Morgan has undertaken these tests to demonstrate Stoney Creek is a safe environment,” wrote principal David Starr in a letter to parents.
As previously reported in the NOW, Kinder Morgan was taking soil samples at Stoney Creek Elementary last July, at the behest of the Burnaby school district.
Kinder Morgan’s oil pipeline, which has been in place since the 1950s, runs under the property at Stoney Creek and beneath a community garden at the school.
Starr’s letter states that SNC Lavalin, hired by Kinder Morgan, took 21 soil samples on the school grounds, from multiple depths and areas.
There was only one sample showing a high level of hydrocarbons that exceeded the federal standards for protecting freshwater aquatic life. The results of that one sample were not connected to the pipeline; the hydrocarbons seem to be coming from some kind of woody debris or burnt wood.
To see Starr’s letter and the testing report, go to Jennifer Moreau’s blog.
