Tar Sands Industry Has Its Eyes On Vancouver For Asian Export Terminal

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In recent months, opposition toย Enbrigeโ€™s Northern Gateway Pipelineย has mounted as citizens, environmental groups and First Nations groups have protested the $5.5 billion dollar pipeline that would bring as many as 220 supertankers per year to Kitimat, B.C., to ship dirty tar sands crude to hungry energy markets inย Asia.

While oppositionย to this project has grown, itโ€™s curious that we havenโ€™t heard anything about an alternate project to route tar sands crude throughย Vancouver.ย 

Theย recentย application to the National Energy Board (NEB) comes from Trans Mountain Pipeline, a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan that operates the 300,000 barrel per day (bpd) pipeline from Alberta to B.C. and Washington State. Their project wouldย vastly expand oil tanker traffic through the waters of Vancouverโ€™s Burrard Inlet, and make Vancouver the major conduit of tar sands crude and bitumen to China.

According to Mitch Anderson at the Tyee, Kinder Morganย has requested permission to divert more Alberta crude and bitumenย from existing land-based refineries in B.C. and Washingtonย to the Westbridge tanker terminal in the Burrard Inlet. This would expand crude capacity through Vancouver from 52,000 bpd to 79,000ย bpd.

Because of growing opposition, theย Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline is still years away. But Kinder Morgan may have found a way around this. Expanding theย existing line to Vancouver will be $1.5 billion cheaper than the Enbridge pipeline, and avoids the growing opposition to constructing a new line toย Kitimat.ย 

Kinder Morgan Canada, in a power pointย presentationย for investors, stated their oily intentions for thisย project:

  • They plan to dredge Second Narrows channel to allow larger Suezmax tankers that can carry 1 million barrels of crude โ€“ย four timesย as much as spilled from the Exxonย Valdez;
  • These larger vessels will save shippers $1.50 perย barrel;
  • Tanker transits through Vancouver will increase to 216 per year in 2016, up from 71 in 2010 and 22 inย 2005;
  • Port Metro Vancouver is apparentlyย โ€œsupportive ofย expansion.โ€

With this project looming, I have many unanswered questions.ย Why has there been so little public awareness of this project?ย According to Anderson, ofย 18ย legal interveners in Kinder Morganโ€™s application, 17 are from oil companies, and not one is from an environmental or citizenโ€™sย group.

Hereโ€™s another question that needs to be answered: Why did the B.C. government specificallyย declineย to be involved in the decision that would scale up tanker traffic through the provinceโ€™s largestย city?

For Vancouverites, this project could prove disastrous.ย Its no mystery that tar sands crude contains more heavy metals,ย and is more acidic and sulphuric than conventional crude oil. A tar sands spill off Vancouverโ€™s coast would be devastating.ย The shallowness and strong tidal currents, of the waters below Vancouverโ€™sย Second Narrows bridge are tricky to navigate, according toย safety experts. I despair for the beautiful coast and beaches that I call my home, and worry for my community, my city, and its future.ย 

Head over toย The Tyeeย to read the full story, and stay tuned for updates on this growingย story.ย 

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