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One of Canada's top experts on Arctic issues is
warning of the "near-inevitability" of an Exxon Valdez-scale oil spill
at a fragile choke point in Alaskan waters if Canada ends up shipping
oil-sands fuel to China via pipeline terminals on the British Columbia
coast.
Michael Byers, a UBC professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law, argues that Canada's "disregard for the environmental impacts of developing and selling its oilsands to China" could eventually expose the narrow, already-congested Unimak Pass in the Aleutian Islands - a key maritime gateway between Asia and North America - to an ecological disaster.
Byers' warning - published Friday in the Seattle Times under the headline "Canada's oil-sands bonanza could mean disaster for Alaska's coastline" - follows comments at a Congressional hearing last week by the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, Adm. Robert Papp, that the strategic importance of the Unimak Pass and nearby Bering Strait have long been overlooked by the U.S. government, and that protection of the two passageways has become an urgent priority for his agency.
The likelihood that China and other Asian countries could become major buyers of Canadian bitumen has increased significantly in recent months because of unanticipated obstacles in securing U.S. approvals for the TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline, intended to run between Alberta's oilsands and American petroleum refineries on the Gulf Coast.
"Twenty-three years after the Exxon Valdez spilled more than half a million barrels of oil into Prince William Sound, another threat looms over Alaska's remote and beautiful coastline - in the form of heavy oil exports from Canada to China," Byers states in the U.S. article.
He goes on to explain that whether fuel from Alberta's oilsands is transported via the planned Northern Gateway outlet at Kitimat, or from the Vancouver terminus of the Trans-Mountain Pipeline, the most direct route to China would be through the Unimak Pass - a heavily used shipping lane that connects the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea through sometimes treacherous waters.
While other critics have highlighted potential risks posed to by increased tanker traffic along B.C.'s coastline, Byers argues that Alaska could be at greater risk of environmental damage once "hundreds of oil tankers" begin moving annually through the Unimak Pass en route to China from Canada.
"The U.S. environmental movement and Alaskan fishing industry can be expected to fight tooth-and-nail to stop daily oil tanker shipments through Unimak Pass, in much the same way that the U.S. environmental movement and Nebraska farming industry fought to protect the Ogallala Aquifer from Keystone XL," he said by email.
"The memory of the Exxon Valdez spill is a huge factor," he added. "For Americans, a massive oil spill in Alaskan waters is not a hypothetical; they've seen it happen already, and therefore know how easily it could happen again."
Byers, author of the book Who Owns the Arctic? and a former federal NDP candidate, said he's not opposed to Canada developing and marketing the oilsands globally, but believes the resource and its export routes should be subject to close scrutiny for environmental and other impacts.
His message
for the Canadian government, he adds, is that pipeline proponents and
the oilsands industry should be prepared for another round of U.S.
opposition.Michael Byers, a UBC professor and Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law, argues that Canada's "disregard for the environmental impacts of developing and selling its oilsands to China" could eventually expose the narrow, already-congested Unimak Pass in the Aleutian Islands - a key maritime gateway between Asia and North America - to an ecological disaster.
Byers' warning - published Friday in the Seattle Times under the headline "Canada's oil-sands bonanza could mean disaster for Alaska's coastline" - follows comments at a Congressional hearing last week by the commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard, Adm. Robert Papp, that the strategic importance of the Unimak Pass and nearby Bering Strait have long been overlooked by the U.S. government, and that protection of the two passageways has become an urgent priority for his agency.
The likelihood that China and other Asian countries could become major buyers of Canadian bitumen has increased significantly in recent months because of unanticipated obstacles in securing U.S. approvals for the TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline, intended to run between Alberta's oilsands and American petroleum refineries on the Gulf Coast.
"Twenty-three years after the Exxon Valdez spilled more than half a million barrels of oil into Prince William Sound, another threat looms over Alaska's remote and beautiful coastline - in the form of heavy oil exports from Canada to China," Byers states in the U.S. article.
He goes on to explain that whether fuel from Alberta's oilsands is transported via the planned Northern Gateway outlet at Kitimat, or from the Vancouver terminus of the Trans-Mountain Pipeline, the most direct route to China would be through the Unimak Pass - a heavily used shipping lane that connects the North Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea through sometimes treacherous waters.
While other critics have highlighted potential risks posed to by increased tanker traffic along B.C.'s coastline, Byers argues that Alaska could be at greater risk of environmental damage once "hundreds of oil tankers" begin moving annually through the Unimak Pass en route to China from Canada.
"The U.S. environmental movement and Alaskan fishing industry can be expected to fight tooth-and-nail to stop daily oil tanker shipments through Unimak Pass, in much the same way that the U.S. environmental movement and Nebraska farming industry fought to protect the Ogallala Aquifer from Keystone XL," he said by email.
"The memory of the Exxon Valdez spill is a huge factor," he added. "For Americans, a massive oil spill in Alaskan waters is not a hypothetical; they've seen it happen already, and therefore know how easily it could happen again."
Byers, author of the book Who Owns the Arctic? and a former federal NDP candidate, said he's not opposed to Canada developing and marketing the oilsands globally, but believes the resource and its export routes should be subject to close scrutiny for environmental and other impacts.
"All I'm saying is that they have some very big questions to answer," he said. "Have they been aware of the environmental, economic and diplomatic risks of the shipping route through the Aleutians?
Have they factored the costs of addressing these risks into their analyses and costing of the pipeline projects?"
At an Enbridge website detailing the Northern Gateway project, the company states: "Enbridge is committed to ensuring that vessels transporting petroleum . . . via the Northern Gateway Terminal in Kitimat will be operated to the highest internationally recognized safety and environmental standards.
The safe passage of marine vessels will be achieved through a comprehensive strategy that brings together the best people, technology and planning."
http://www.canada.com/Shipping+Canadian+will+ring+spill+warns+expert/6649205/story.html
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