Feds say tankers safe in Kitimat’s waters

CALGARY — Transport Canada says oil supertankers can safely access a terminal in Kitimat to collect loads of crude from Enbridge Inc.’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline project.

The department has determined the marine passages connecting Kitimat to the Pacific Ocean contain no obstructions that could pose a safety risk to fully loaded oil tankers. It expects the project would attract an extra 250 or more tankers a year to the northern B.C. community.

“The proposed shipping routes are appropriate for the oil tankers that will be used at the proposed terminal,” says the assessment, submitted Thursday to a regulatory panel reviewing the $5.5-billion pipeline proposal for the federal government.

The review, posted online by the joint panel, notes the routes provide the required clearances for good vessel manoeuvrability and allowances for very large crude oil tankers to safely navigate. A marine link to global markets is critical for Northern Gateway, which would transport up to 525,000 barrels per day of crude from Alberta’s oilsands to the West Coast, for export to Asian and Californian markets.

Environmental groups, First Nations and other pipeline critics of Northern Gateway have flagged narrow passages and inclement weather as among the biggest contributors to a risk of oil-tanker spills in coastal waters they associate with the pipeline.