Washington's border waters are on the cusp of a major rise in oil tanker traffic

A significant increase in oil tanker traffic is in store for the Salish Sea with the completion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion in British Columbia.

The project triples the volume of Alberta crude the pipeline can carry to an export terminal in Burnaby near Vancouver, British Columbia. The facility now sends out an average of five loaded tankers per month. The expansion aims to raise the pace to one vessel per day. The oil-filled ships pass by the San Juan Islands and Olympic Peninsula as they head out to sea.

Increased oil spill risks in shared waters, disturbances to endangered orcas and other whales and climate change impacts are among the worries the pipeline expansion has stoked across the border in Washington. The Canadian project inspired repeated protests from Puget Sound tribes, Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson. But they were all powerless to stop it.

“Anytime you move oil from one place to another, that presents a risk of an oil spill,” said Lovel Pratt, marine protection and policy director for Friends of the San Juans in Friday Harbor. “Oil knows no boundaries. The oil goes wherever the water takes it regardless of the border. We’re all at risk when an oil spill occurs.”



https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/04/29/washingtons-border-waters-are-on-the-cusp-of-a-major-rise-in-oil-tanker-traffic/