Trans Mountain outlines construction plans for next six months in Alberta, B.C.

The company says work has been underway since last fall at the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, B.C., and will continue along with additional work in the Lower Mainland. (File photo from TRANSMOUNTAIN website)

VANCOUVER  —  Trans Mountain has filed a six-month construction schedule with the National Energy Board for the expansion of its Alberta-to-B.C. pipeline.

The company says work has been underway since last fall at the Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby, B.C., and will continue along with additional work in the Lower Mainland.

It says it will begin this month to develop the Westridge Marine Terminal tunnel portal at Burnaby Mountain and relocate existing infrastructure to expand the Burnaby Terminal.

It also says work on a 290-kilometre stretch of pipeline between Edmonton and Jasper National Park will start in August and include surveying, staking and flagging the right-of-way.

It says it will clear trees and vegetation in the area while taking measures to protect the environment with relocation of rare plants and by conducting wildlife surveys.

In September, surveying, staking and flagging the right-of-way will begin in North Thompson, B.C., on a 120-kilometre stretch between Mt. Robson Provincial Park and Blue River.

On Tuesday, activists with Greenpeace rappelled off a bridge in Vancouver to protest the pipeline expansion, which has been purchased by the Canadian government for $4.5 billion.