SFU President's Statement on Transmountain Expansion Project and Support for a Fire Hall on Burnaby Mountain

SFU has consistently raised concerns over the TransMountain Expansion Project specific to the tank farm and the risk it poses to our community of students, staff and faculty and UniverCity residents. Despite those concerns, the project was approved and continues to move ahead.

In my role as the new president of SFU I would like to reiterate that the University remains opposed to anything that increases the risk to our community. There are significant safety concerns about risk of fire, release of toxic emissions and potential blockage of the only evacuation route from SFU’s Burnaby campus in event of a fire and/or tank explosion at the tank farm. 

When the tank farm expansion is complete, tanks will be within two hundred meters of the Gaglardi Way/Burnaby Mountain Parkway intersection, which is the only vehicle emergency access and egress route for the SFU Burnaby campus. 

A new fire hall on top of Burnaby Mountain is a key component to protecting people at SFU and UniverCity. We strongly support the Burnaby Fire Department’s request to move this work forward and are working with the City of Burnaby on possible fire hall locations. In any emergency evacuation of the Burnaby campus, including an emergency fire related to the tank farm, SFU would rely on the Burnaby Fire Department along with other emergency responders to ensure the safety of our community.

It is imperative that our federal and local governments protect our community from any approved government initiatives that may impact safety.  We continue to urge them to implement all safety measures to ensure our community is protected with the tank farm expansion currently underway. 

Dr. Joy Johnson, SFU president and vice-chancellor

December 2020

Trans Mountain Pipeline Tank Farm Expansion Website Update

On June 18, 2019, the Government of Canada approved the Trans Mountain Expansion Project. Plans involve new tanks to be added to existing storage terminals, including the tank farm located on Burnaby Mountain.

As always, the safety of our students, staff, faculty and UniverCity residents is a top priority.

Working closely with the City of Burnaby and the Burnaby Fire Department, we’re taking a number of actions to to maximize the safety of the SFU community in the event of a potential crisis situation:

• SFU takes an all hazards approach to emergency management to ensure that our plans and response structures are adaptable and scalable making us more resilient. The Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP) provides the SFU community with a framework and common understanding of emergency management activities and identifies our response priorities. The CEMP is reviewed and updated every three years
• Evacuation as well as sheltering in place procedures are established
• An extensive review of forest fire risks has been conducted 
• Emergency alert communications systems are in place
• Emergency response preparedness exercises are regularly conducted

SFU is working hard to keep our community members as safe as possible.

For questions or comments, please contact Mark LaLonde, Chief Safety Officer mark_lalonde@sfu.ca

November 28, 2016

SFU Releases Report on Tank Farm Expansion

To the University Community,

SFU today released a report from PGL Environmental Consultants documenting the health and safety risks to the university community that would result from Kinder Morgan’s plan to triple the capacity of its Burnaby Mountain tank farm as part of the Trans Mountain Expansion Project (TMEP).

A copy of the report has been sent to the Honourable James Carr, Minister of Natural Resources, together with a letter communicating the university’s concerns and expressing its objection to the tank farm expansion.

Any increase in risks to the health and safety of the SFU community is unacceptable to the university. The risks identified in this report are significant and deeply concerning, and SFU will continue to raise our concerns with both Kinder Morgan and the federal government.

Andrew Petter
President and Vice Chancellor
Simon Fraser University

May 28, 2015

Statement from Terry Waterhouse, Chief Safety Officer

As an intervenor in Trans Mountain Expansion Project’s National Energy Board application, Simon Fraser University has submitted a document outlining our serious concerns around the project’s impact on the safety and security of our school community. At this time, SFU has yet to receive enough information to convince us that this proposed project addresses all of our health and safety concerns. The University has outlined all of these concerns in our submission to the NEB.

To read the full submission to the NEB on May 27, 2015, click here.

We remain committed to safeguarding the safety and security of our students and staff. To do so, SFU will continue its role as an active intervenor. We’re hopeful that the issues in our submission will be addressed by the NEB process. Should our concerns not be addressed, we will pursue all means necessary to address them on behalf of the SFU community. 

Please see below for a list of all SFU studies and evidence related to the proposed Trans Mountain Expansion Project: 

SFU's Written Submission to the NEB - May 27, 2015 

Review of Human Health risk Assessments: An Evidence Report - May 21, 2015 

Hazards of SFU Associated with Trans Mountain Expansion Project: A Gap Analysis - May 21, 2015 

Trans Mountain's Response to SFU Information Request No. 2