National Post

THE TRUTH ABOUT OIL TANKERS.

- Gwyn Morgan Gwyn Morgan is the retired founding CEO of EnCana Corp., who has been a director of five global corporatio­ns.

The expansion of Kinder Morgan’s TransMount­ain pipeline, which exports Alberta crude oil by tanker through the Port of Vancouver, was a high- profile issue in the recent B.C. election. With the election results still unclear and the possibilit­y of the Green party and NDP, who are both against the pipeline, forming a government, the issue continues to weigh on the province’s political future.

Premier Christy Clark agreed to support the federally approved project in exchange for Ottawa’s commitment to a substantia­lly upgraded emergency spill-response plan and financial compensati­on from Kinder Morgan that would see the province paid as much as $ 1 billion over the next two decades. This didn’t appease spill- fearing Vancouveri­tes who shifted their votes to NDP Leader John Horgan after he vowed to use “every tool in the toolbox” to fight the project. Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson also supported Horgan, stating that expanding Kinder Morgan’s shipping traffic from five to 35 tankers per month isn’t worth the “disastrous risks’’ of a spill.

But does the project actually pose such risks? Let’s move beyond the rhetoric to some hard facts. While there has never been a serous oiltanker spill on Canada’s Pacific coast, the truly disastrous environmen­tal impact of the 1989 Exxon- Valdez accident in Alaska’s Prince William Sound is the reason cited most often to oppose the Kinder Morgan expan- sion.

Paradoxica­lly, the ExxonValde­z spill proved to be a powerful catalyst that set off a spill- prevention renaissanc­e in the global oilshippin­g industry. Investigat­ors concluded that the spill wouldn’t have happened if the Exxon-Valdez had been a double- hulled vessel. As a result, 150 countries mandated a 25- year phase out of single- hull tankers and a requiremen­t for all new vessels to be double- hulled by the end of 2014. That phaseout began soon after with new, greatly improved ships progressiv­ely replacing older ones. The new double-hulled ships, combined with advanced navigation systems and other safety measures, have led to a precipitou­s drop in global seaborne oil spills from an annual average of 2,340 barrels per day in the 1980s to just 110 barrels per day since 2010. That staggering reduction has been achieved despite a doubling of tanker shipments to 60- million barrels per day. Nowadays, hundreds of times more petroleum runs down municipal storm drains into the world’s rivers and oceans from leaking motor vehicles, trucking spills, illegally disposed used oil and other land- based sources than from tanker spills.

That’s the global picture. What about here in Canada? Let’s start on our eastern coasts. Transport Canada data show that over 1.6- million barrels of petroleum are safely moved from 23 Atlantic Canadian ports each day. Another 500,000 barrels per day move up the St. Lawrence to Montreal and other Quebec ports. Overall, Eastern Canada’s ports berth some 4,000 inbound petroleum tankers each year without any major incidents.

Due to the proximity of the Vancouver and Seattle areas, analysis of tanker movements on our West Coast must include both Canadian and American traffic. Essentiall­y all tanker traffic must transit the Strait of Juan de Fuca bordered to the north by Vancouver Island and to the south by Washington State. After passing Victoria, American vessels move south towards Seattle and Canadian vessels move north toward Vancouver. The American tanker shipments are dominated by Alaskan heavy oil similar in grade to Canada’s diluted oil sands blend. Of the approximat­ely 1.2- million barrels per day that go through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, about 500,000 barrels per day go to the Seattle region and some 700,000 barrels per day travel to or from Vancouver.

This traffic includes tugboat- towed barges, fuel tankers and, five days out of each month, an outbound tanker carrying crude from Kinder Morgan’s Vancouver pipeline terminal. Despite hundreds of millions of barrels of seaborn tanker petroleum movements over many decades, the only significan­t spill on our West Coast didn’t come from an oil tanker. It occurred when the BC Ferries vessel Queen of the North foundered near Price Rupert with 1,750 barrels of fuel on board.

Kinder Morgan’s spill-prevention measures go far beyond employing the strongest and safest double- hulled tankers. Certified Marine Navigation Pilots will be on the bridge until the ships reach open ocean. Powerful ocean tugs, one of which will be tethered to the tanker and the other available to assist, will keep the ships safe, even in the highly unlikely event of engine failure.

Like many West Coasters, my wife and I treasure the unique and beautiful environmen­t of the region, spending time kayaking its waters and anchoring our boat in its myriad coves. I’m not worried about one more oil tanker per day. But I do worry about the boat diesel, heavy bunker fuel and chemical pollutants pumped from the bilges of the other 6,000 large ships that travel our waters each year, ships that are not nearly as closely scrutinize­d as those 35 Kinder Morgan tankers will surely be.

 ?? GLENN BAGLO / POSTMEDIA NEWS FILES ??
GLENN BAGLO / POSTMEDIA NEWS FILES

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