Trans Mountain Corp.

Everyone keeps saying this new pipeline was built to carry crude oil, but in actual fact, it carries something far more explosive and potentially hazardous: diluted bitumen from the landlocked Alberta oil sands.

Crown corporation Trans Mountain Corp. says as of Wednesday, the expanded pipeline from Alberta to the B.C. coast will be transporting crude oil. 

Here's a look at what milestones to expect in the coming weeks as the massive pipeline gets ready to start shipping Canadian oil to the West Coast:

"The stakes are high: billions of dollars at issue, with Trans Mountain's (costs) having more than quintupled since 2017 — and its costs are still growing by billions, seemingly unchecked," the oil companies stated in a motion filed with the Canada Energy Regulator earlier this week.

In a press release, the regulator says it found that approving the application with four conditions is in the public interest, based on new inspection commitments and demonstration of quality management processes from Trans Mountain. 

In a statement on its website, Trans Mountain Corp. said Monday it needs additional time to determine the "safest and most prudent actions for minimizing further delay."

The company building the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion has submitted evidence to support its claim that oil companies must pay more in tolls in light of the pipeline project's mounting costs.

New documents suggest the Crown corporation behind the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion is facing an uphill battle to finish the project on schedule in spite of mounting internal and external pressure to do so.

In its regulatory filing, Trans Mountain Corp. said it has run into engineering difficulties related to the drilling of a tunnel in B.C. and wants to alter the route slightly for a 1.3-kilometre stretch of pipe, as well as the construction method.

TC Energy Corp. is expecting what it calls a "material increase" in the cost of its Coastal GasLink pipeline project.

The Crown corporation says the area will not be cleared until there's confirmation from a wildlife resource specialist that no nests are active, which would be the end of nesting season.

British Columbia is shifting into repair and recovery mode following devastating floods and landslides caused by record rains that crippled transportation links, deluged agricultural operations and forced the evacuations of thousands of people, says the province's public safety minister.

The Trans Mountain pipeline has restarted following a three-week precautionary shutdown during a series of storms that battered southern British Columbia, causing extensive flooding and landslides.

Flood warnings were issued on Wednesday, December 1, 2021, for several major rivers in British Columbia as a federal scientist says record-setting rainfall and alpine temperatures are consistent with climate change.

Parkland Corp. is moving to pause its refinery processing operations in Burnaby, B.C., due to a lack of crude oil supply from the Trans Mountain pipeline, which has been shut down as a precaution due to the flooding in B.C.