After months of laying pipe through Jasper National Park, a small army of workers slipped quietly out of town as March turned to April and headed west toward Valemount and Mount Robson Provincial Park.

At its peak, the $443 million the Trans Mountain Expansion brought almost 600 workers and managers to Jasper. They rented homes and apartments, enrolled their children in town schools, shopped and celebrated in Jasper’s stores and bars.

According to Karla Anderson, spokesperson for Kinder Morgan Canada,  Trans Mountain Pipeline owner,  contractors and their employees added as much as $8 million to Jasper’s economy. 

“It was very much welcome,” said George Krefting, Jasper’s municipal manager.

“They were a real part of the community; they played in the recreational; hockey league, they were involved in curling, their children were in our schools. Some real friendships were made.”

Bert Journault, president of Jasper Tourism and Commerce, said the pipeline workers drew some early negative comments, but that changed as they transformed the town’s normally slow winter months into an “economic boom.”

“We had six on our hockey team - they were great players,” he said.

“Restaurants and bars that stay open through the winter usually lose money, but they did well. Hotels and tourist accommodations have a lot of money in their jeans.”

The addition of pipline workers pushed up rents for unfurnished apartments and provided a windfall to tourist operators who filled rooms that would have sat empty through the winter, said Jasper realtor Rich Potter.

“The price of a three-bedroom condo with garage went from around $1200 to $1500 a month and I don’t think that price will come down,” Potter said. “They also filled up $3500 a month furnished apartments.”

Pipeline workers’ thirsts also gave a leg up to Jasper’s struggling Branch 31 of the Royal Canadian Legion.

“They didn’t just come here to drink,” said Legion manager Robin Wyver.

“They supported all our endevours. They were here for our weekly dinners; they played 50-50; they left generous tips. They donated to our fund-raisers. They were a part of things. They had a very positive impact on us.”

The next phase of the project will employ up to 100 workers in restoring the path left by the pipeline with native plants grown from seeds collected before North American Construction broke ground last August.

“North American will be cleaning up the site before the restoration crews move in,” Anderson said Tuesday.

Remediation work in a national park is a new experience for Terra Environmental Consultants, the lead contractor on the job, said Jason Smith, Terra’s senior environmental consultant.

“Working in a national park is a new and unique experience. The site will be restored entirely with native plants, something that has never been done here before.”

Terra started collecting seeds and plants in 2006 and raised them in greenhouses in Calgary.

Seeding and planting will begin in May and carry on through the end of the growing season in October. It will take about two years to restore some areas and sites will be monitored for up to five years.

Fences will be erected to keep wildlife away from sensitive stream bank areas and the public will be warned to stay clear of growing areas until the new plants are well established, Smith said.