Forum examines prospect of offshore oil tanker traffic

By Thomas Winterhoff

With Alberta’s tar sands continuing to fuel Canada’s booming oil industry, energy companies are looking for new ways to transport raw petroleum products to world markets as quickly as possible.

That activity could have significant repercussions for British Columbia, with deepwater ports such as Kitimat and Prince Rupert being seen as vital links in the growing export trade to Asia. A half-dozen large projects are already on the drawing board to build pipelines or enhance existing transportation systems to connect Alberta’s lucrative oil patch to Canada’s Pacific ports.

However, the prospect of oil supertankers travelling through the rugged waterways of the North Coast has environmentalists worried. The Dogwood Initiative - a Victoria-based environmental organization - is hosting a public forum May 22 to discuss the impact of oil tanker traffic and how any changes to current government policy might affect coastal communities. A federal moratorium currently prevents Alaska-bound oil tankers from travelling in specified areas of B.C.’s coastal waters. (See sidebar at left.)

“It’s a policy that’s been respected by eight prime ministers since 1972,” says Dogwood Initiative communications co-ordinator Charles Campbell. “The difficulty with the moratorium is that it exists in policy, but it isn’t stated in legislation.”

Technically, the moratorium doesn’t apply to ships using Kitimat’s port facilities at the northern end of Douglas Channel. But Campbell counters that an oil spill anywhere would be “horrendous” and notes that the region’s narrow inlets would make it difficult for the natural “flushing” action of tides and waves to disperse any spilled oil.

One prominent infrastructure project on the horizon is the dual Gateway Pipeline proposed by Canadian company Enbridge and Chinese energy giant PetroChina. If it gets regulatory approval and overcomes legal challenges by First Nations groups, the 1145-kilometre pipeline could come into service as early as 2012. One half of the Gateway Pipeline would transport heavy oil from central Alberta to Kitimat, where it would be transferred to tankers headed for Asia or California. The other pipe would transport imported “condensate” to Alberta. Condensate is a byproduct of natural gas production used to dilute the thick tar sands oil so it will move more easily through pipes.

A 2006 Ipsos-Reid poll commissioned by the Dogwood Initiative suggested that 75 per cent of B.C. residents support the existing moratorium on oil tanker traffic, despite the fact that the B.C. and federal governments are in favour of expanding the energy sector. Members of the Dogwood Initiative question the wisdom of allowing more oil tanker traffic.

“Basically, we feel that it’s jeopardizing the entire coastal community and ecology for the sake of very little benefit to British Columbia,” Campbell says. “We feel that if the public were consulted, it would be up in arms.”

The News made several requests to interview Minster of Natural Resources Gary Lunn, but received no response from the Saanich-Gulf Islands MP. The Global Warming, Oil Tankers and the B.C. Coast public forum will take place May 22 at Raincoast Adventure Sports (1317 Broad St.), starting at 7 p.m.

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