Trans Mountain pipeline back to full capacity in late January at 'earliest': exec

Trans Mountain's chief operating officer says the pipeline will likely return to full capacity in late January at “the earliest'' as work continues after flood fallout that will cost tens of millions of dollars.

Trans Mountain's chief operating officer says the pipeline will likely return to full capacity in late January at “the earliest'' as work continues after flood fallout that will cost tens of millions of dollars.

The January estimate falls more than a month after the company previously said it would resume normal supply.

The critical pipeline shut down on Nov. 14 as a precaution following floods in the area of Hope, B.C., and came back online last week, allowing gas rationing in southern British Columbia to end Tuesday.

The 21-day shutdown marked the longest in the pipeline's 68-year history, said Michael Davies, head of operations at the federally owned company.

“The pipe is still running at a lower pressure. We're armouring riverbanks and re-bedding pipe where it was scoured out,'' Davies said in a phone interview. “We may still have some further pipe repairs to do, more permanent repairs.

“It's easily in the tens of millions, many tens of millions of dollars,'' he added.