First Nations Slam Plan to Twin Kinder Morgan pipeline to Burrard Inlet - CTV

As the debate rages over a proposed oil pipeline in northern B.C., energy giant Kinder Morgan is quietly working on plans to double the capacity of its pipeline into Metro Vancouver.

The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs issued a letter Tuesday urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier Christy Clark to reject both Kinder Morgan and Enbridge's proposals.

Representatives from the Tseil-Waututh First Nation in North Vancouver say they fear an oil spill and are opposed to Kinder Morgan's plans to increase tanker traffic in Burrard Inlet.

"The risk of having that much oil floating through our inlet, it's too great a risk to take," council member Carleen Thomas told CTV News.

part from more tanker traffic, Kinder Morgan also wants bigger tankers in the inlet, and the company told investors in a presentation that would mean dredging the channel to widen it. CTV News has learned that Port Metro Vancouver is testing sediment at the Second Narrows channel in preparation.

Environmentalists say that dredging comes with its own risks.

"Dredging can be quite harmful. There's a lot of toxins, heavy metals well above acceptable limits that are at the bottom of the inlet. When you disturb that, you're mixing that into the ecosystem," Ben West of the Wilderness Committee said.