Trans Mountain Commits Up to $3 Million for Multi-Year Programs to Protect Wild Pacific Salmon

The Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) and Trans Mountain announced today measures that will be introduced by the pipeline company in the protection of wild Pacific salmon. Trans Mountain has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with PSF for multi-year salmon programs, including a third-party assessment by PSF of Trans Mountain’s construction across sensitive salmon-bearing water courses in British Columbia. The agreement provides $2.5 million in funding to support grants to community groups for salmon conservation, coastal research, and post-secondary education bursary program and up to $500,000 for the third-party construction assessment. 

“This investment to protect wild Pacific salmon is a key pillar of our commitment to construct our project responsibly and leave meaningful long-term legacies for B.C.,” said Ian Anderson, President of Kinder Morgan Canada. “I respect and value PSF’s independence and science-based perspective and we are proud to build on our past support for Pacific salmon and other important regional programs that advance research and conservation of B.C.’s unique freshwater and coastal ecosystems.”

The Pacific Salmon Foundation has participated in Trans Mountain’s public consultation process dating back to 2014 and consistently identified wild Pacific salmon as an essential cultural and ecological component of British Columbia and a highly-valued economic asset. 

“We are an independent, science-based organization that has a single focus on conserving and restoring wild Pacific salmon and their habitats,” said Dr. Brian Riddell, President and CEO of PSF. “Our work will focus on pre and post-construction assessments of wild Pacific salmon habitats and potential risks to wild Pacific salmon.”

PSF has conducted similar types of monitoring in the past with other industrial and government partners, including assessments of habitat reclamation measures implemented in conjunction with the Port Mann Bridge expansion. 

“Our government is committed to the long-term sustainability of Wild Pacific Salmon, which are a vital part of Canada’s environment, culture and economy,” said the Honourable Dominic LeBlanc Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard. “We are pleased to see this voluntary arrangement between industry and conservation.”

About Trans Mountain Expansion Project

In November 2016, the Government of Canada approved Kinder Morgan Canada Limited’s (TSX: KML) plan to expand the existing Trans Mountain Pipeline system – between Edmonton, Alberta and Burnaby, British Columbia. The Project is subject to 157 Conditions from the National Energy Board that covers the life span of the Project, and 37 Conditions attached to the Environmental Certificate received from the Government of British Columbia in January 2017. For more than 60 years, the 1,150-km Trans Mountain pipeline system has been safely and efficiently providing the only West Coast access for Canadian oil products, including about 90 per cent of the gasoline supplied to the interior and south coast of British Columbia. www.transmountain.com

About the Pacific Salmon Foundation

The Pacific Salmon Foundation was created in 1987 as an independent, non-governmental, charitable organization to protect, conserve and rebuild Pacific Salmon populations in British Columbia and the Yukon. PSF’s mission is to be the trusted voice for conservation and restoration of wild Pacific salmon and their ecosystems and works to bring salmon back stream by stream through the strategic use of resources and local communities. www.psf.ca 

Media contact:

Trans Mountain Expansion Project 
Media Relations
[email protected]   
1.855.908.9734

Pacific Salmon Foundation
Stephen Bruyneel
[email protected]
604.842.1971