A handful of activists locked themselves to the main gate of Kinder Morgan's Westridge Terminal Saturday morning vowing to remain for 13 hours or one hour for every tree the company cut doing survey work for its proposed pipeline expansion.

Burnaby RCMP arrested one man to get his identification, but quickly released him and made no move to stop the protesters.

Marcus Denomme said the small group was there to interfere with Kinder Morgan's business.

"After we've honoured the 13 trees that have been cut we'll leave peacefully and there's no need for arrests or other altercations," he said.

Five activists bike-locked themselves to the main gate of Kinder Morgan's Westridge Marine Terminal in Burnaby Saturday to protest the company's cutting of trees in a conservation area during survey work for its proposed pipeline expansion. (CBC)

Denome says the group's aim is to raise awareness.

Kinder Morgan has also been locked in a dispute with the City of Burnaby ever since its survey work led to the removal of the trees in early September. The city issued two stop work orders and fined the company for cutting down trees in a conservation area,

It has since filed a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court seeking an injunction to prevent the company from conducting any work that destroys trees or disrupts parkland.

Pipeline expansion plans

Kinder Morgan wants to bore a hole under the mountain as part of a proposal to nearly triple the capacity of the existing pipeline, but the city has vowed to block the project however it can.

Earlier this year the National Energy Board ruled that the company has the right to access the area and conduct the survey work.

Stumps and branches of trees that were recently cut down by workers hired by Kinder Morgan are seen in the Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area, in Burnaby, B.C., on Wednesday September 10, 2014. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)

But the city says while Kinder Morgan may have a right to be on Burnaby Mountain, they don't have the right to cut trees in the conservation area

The two-kilometre section though the Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area would link the Burnaby Terminal and the Westridge Marine Terminal.

The company says the new route would minimize traffic disruption during construction and avoid four privately owned properties.

On mobile? Click here for a map showing the Westridge Marine Terminal