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Yet, our oil spill readiness less than in U.S
As opponents rage against new pipelines, planning has already begun in preparation for the hundreds of oil tankers the pipelines would supply off B.C.'s coast.Port Metro Vancouver is creating a Canadian "Center of Excellence" for oil and liquefied gas shipments, in anticipation of the port becoming a major exporter of energy products.
In a recent submission to a federal panel on tanker safety, the port revealed the centre will be a "leading source of information on best practices for shipping Canada's energy and oil and LNG commodities on Canada's Pacific Coast."
And, in northern B.C., Ottawa is sponsoring an ocean-monitoring study to probe surface wind effects on bitumen from Kitimat to the Hecate Strait, to prepare for oil spill response measures.
If the Northern Gateway pipeline gets the nod from Ottawa early next year, some 250 tankers could one day operate out of Kitimat.
Another 350 mid-sized tankers would operate annually out of Vancouver's port should Kinder Morgan's expansion of the Trans Mountain pipeline be approved.
This would mark a huge change. Currently, no oil tankers visit Kitimat, and just 50 or 60 a year leave Trans Mountain's Westridge Terminal in Burnaby.
A paper by Calgary economist Jennifer Winter forecasts that Trans Mountain's expansion "would result in (Port Metro Vancouver) becoming a major exporter of crude oil," with such exports accounting for 30 per cent of total port tonnage.
That is roughly the same as coal, one of the port's biggest exports along with forestry products.
In advance of this controversial transformation, the Harper government is working to build public confidence in regulatory systems that police tanker movements and govern responses for spills.
Last March , Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver was in Vancouver to announce the three-member tanker safety panel, due to issue a report this fall.
Oliver also reported Ottawa would review its $1.3-billion oil pollution liability limit. The potential cost of a Pacific Coast tanker spill involving the gooey Alberta bitumen has been pegged at anywhere from $9 billion to $40 billion.
Port Metro Vancouver last June told the tanker safety panel it "has served as Canada's Pacific Gateway for bulk oil for more than 50 years, and we have never had a navigational issue with an oil tanker."
While that may be true, oil shipments traditionally have accounted for just 3.1 per cent of total tonnage - involving a limited number of tankers a year at the Westridge Terminal.
There is, of course, a basis for concern about any increase in tanker operations at Canada's largest port.
The port has 600 kilometres of shoreline, bordering 16 municipalities and several aboriginal communities. Mayors in Vancouver and Burnaby oppose increased tanker operations.
Kinder Morgan, which will file an application later this year to the National Energy Board for its pipeline expansion plans, told the tanker safety panel it has found that "the tanker safety regime in Canada is not well understood or appreciated" by the public.
It acknowledged its plans would pose "an incremental change in risk (arising) from a higher probability of an incident due to increased residence time and transit frequency."
The company also acknowledged: "Our strict obligation for tanker safety ends once the tankers leave the Westridge Marine Terminal."
Por t Met ro Vancouver , meanwhile, is recommending standards be boosted for spill cleanup capability.
Transport Canada requires responders to be able to address oil spills up to 10,000 tonnes, compared to 30,000 tonnes in the U.S. If a green light is given to significantly more tanker traffic off B.C.'s coastline, it certainly would be hard to justify a lower level of cleanup capability than in the U.S.
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