Judge approves eviction of protesters from camp near pipeline construction site

A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has granted the City of Burnaby an injunction forcing pipeline protesters to leave their camp outside a Kinder Morgan tank farm.

Justice Geoffrey Gomery says all structures, shelters and vehicles must be removed from the site known as Camp Cloud within 48 hours of an order being issued, which could occur as early as today.

The judge also ordered that a sacred fire burning under very dry conditions and near several large tanks containing petroleum productsmust be extinguished.

However, the judge says peaceful protesting is still permitted and individuals are allowed on the site as long as they do not build more structures.

Camp Cloud has grown since November from a single trailer to include a two-storey wooden structure, a cabin, an outdoor shower, more than a dozen tents and multiple vehicles and trailers.

The protestors wanted to stop the twinningof Kinder Morgan'sTrans Mountain pipeline that runs through the area to a terminal on BurrardInlet.

In a statement fromCamp Cloud,protestors say they are "gravely concerned for the national interest, respect, dignity of public interest, public health and the protection of safe and clean water for all our generations to come on these sacred lands of so-called Canada".

Protestorsdidn't indicate that they plan to leave.

City of Burnaby lawyer Gregory McDade told the judge that while the city supports peaceful protests, the camp violates several bylaws, trespasses on city property and constitutes a public nuisance.