If Kinder Morgan Canada wants to build good will in the community, we suggest it clear away the fog of mystery around its Sumas terminal and pipeline. Last Tuesday, its Abbotsford neighbours woke to overwhelming oil fumes before dawn, but it took officials and locals several hours to find out what was going on.

Teams of police officers and firefighters scrambled for hours looking for the source of the smell, along with workers from Fortis. This should not have happened.

First responders should have been informed immediately by Kinder Morgan and not left to waste their valuable time.

The company informed Auguston elementary school principal just as the school opened that there had been an "oil release," but parents, residents and others were left wondering if the air was safe to breath. That should not have happened.

Kinder Morgan assured us the fumes were "nuisance odours" and not a health concern, but many people complained of headaches, nausea and asthma symptoms. The company says it did communicate to proper agencies, to residents and the media. But it took too long.

On the big scale of things, this was fortunately a small incident, less than onequarter of one percent of the company's daily pipeline capacity, or 300,000 barrels per day. But what if there is a bigger incident? In 2005, we saw the company struggle as it tried to contain a spill of more than 200,000 litres of crude oil. The stuff leaked past the company's barriers and forced some residents to vacate their homes temporarily.

Now Kinder Morgan plans to double the amount of crude it moves through its pipeline to 700,000 barrels daily.

What will this mean for property values, human health and the environment?

Kinder Morgan needs to be more open with the community on these larger issues and when spills or other events happen.

That's what a good corporate neighbour would do.