Last week, the District of Squamish announced plans to grant FortisBC a statutory right of way for a portion of underground land below Tiampo Park for its Eagle Mountain – Woodfibre Gas Pipeline Project.
The park is located on the west side of the Squamish River, across from the Skwelwil’em Squamish Estuary.
The 0.7-hectare site (1.87 acres) to be accessed as part of the Volumetric Statutory Right of Way (VSRW) is underground at an average depth of 350 metres.
Statutory rights of way are not uncommon.
VSRWs are used for projects such as pipelines and other utilities. The creation of the SkyTrain line in the Lower Mainland, for example, used VSRWs, in addition to many other statutory rights of way.
FortisBC and BC Hydro both already have conventional rights of way on the Tiampo Park lands for existing infrastructure—a natural gas pipeline and transmission lines.
The underground access will accommodate a portion of the nine-kilometre tunnel that will run from the BC Rail site to the Woodfibre LNG site.
Tunnelling under the estuary was a condition of FortisBC’s agreement with the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation).
"A condition of approval by both Squamish Nation and the BC Environmental Assessment Office is that there will be no surface or industrial impacts to the Skwelwil'em Squamish Estuary Wildlife Management Area," reads the FortisBC website.
The right of way gives the utility company permission to access the underground area and up to six metres above the tunnel wall and three metres to the sides and below the tunnel.
"Aside from there being no surface impacts or loss of enjoyment for users of the Park, there are also no surface-related rights, as would be typical of a conventional right of way agreement," said the FortisBC spokesperson.
For the right of way, the company will pay the municipality $98,000.
While this Volumetric Statutory Right of Way may be new to some in the public, this isn’t a new aspect of the pipeline plan, says a FortisBC spokesperson.
“This is not part of a new plan. Tunnelling under Tiampo Park is included within our project approvals granted by [the Nation], the BC Environmental Assessment Office, and the British Columbia Energy Regulator. As we anticipate tunnelling underneath the Tiampo Park area to begin in the summer 2025, we are working to secure this VSRW in advance,” the spokesperson said, in an email to The Squamish Chief.
The tunnelling work in Tiampo Park will last approximately two to three months.
According to the municipality, said the VSRW was approved by the Chief Administrative Officer, Linda Glenday, through the District’s Officer and Delegation Bylaw, which allows the CAO to approve third-party use of District property as long as the funds given to the DOS are less than $200,000.
The District says this is the first Volumetric Right of Way in recent corporate memory.
"Typically, the District of Squamish would grant a Statutory Right of Way which would incorporate a reasonable depth to allow for any related underground work.
"In this case, given the depth of the tunnelling required, there is no access to the surface of the property."
This story is being updated as more information comes in.
