Tankers and tar sands oil threaten seas

Gulf Islands Driftwood – Opinion

Published: December 13, 2011

By Chris Genovali and Misty MacDuffee

On British Columbia’s south coast, Kinder Morgan wants to triple the amount of crude oil being shipped from Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet through Georgia Strait, the Fraser estuary, the Gulf Islands, the San Juan Islands, Haro Strait and Juan de Fuca Strait.

Their proposed pipeline expansions would deliver 700,000 barrels of tar sands oil per day to Burrard Inlet by 2016.

This past Friday, the National Energy Board approved the most recent request by Kinder Morgan to divert more oil to their Burnaby terminal, which will consequently increase tanker traffic in the Salish Sea. Despite requests to the NEB by Raincoast Conservation Foundation, the Gulf Islands Alliance and other NGOs, this was done without a full public process. Kinder Morgan is seeking approval for additional increases in pipeline capacity by 2016, which would further expand tanker traffic.

To read the full article, please visit the Gulf Islands Driftwood website.

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