Since the expanded Trans Mountain (TMX) pipeline came online in May, tanker traffic is 10 times greater in Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet, heightening concerns about the potential for oil spills.
Citing publicly available data, David Huntley, an emeritus physics professor at Simon Fraser University, told CBC the average number of tankers loaded with oil in the inlet increased to 20 per month in June and July, and was expected to continue at that level in August—up from an average of two tankers per month previously. CBC corroborated the data through emails with Trans Mountain.
“This company and this government are willing to put the people here at risk because they want more profits. This is morally repugnant,” Tim Takaro, another emeritus professor at SFU who was previously jailed for his protests against the pipeline, told CBC.
Trans Mountain—which went ahead only after the federal government purchased the pipeline in 2018 from Houston-based Kinder Morgan—produced years of controversy, cost inflation, and safety complaints. The C$34-billion expansion project has tripled the capacity of crude oil flowing to Canada’s West Coast, with markets in Asia and the U.S. West Coast anticipated as top export destinations. Pipeline production volumes are increasing gradually, and it is expected to run at full capacity in 2025-2026.
Though Trans Mountain’s website says it is working with the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC) to prevent spills, environmental advocates have protested the tanker traffic, citing the increased risk to Metro Vancouver’s waterways and shorelines.
“We demand that the government stop shipping these tankers through these waters until there is a plan to protect the people,” said Takaro. “And to be honest with you, that plan, of course, must include the end of the fossil energy industry here in Canada.”
The B.C. government also raised concerns in a letter to the federal government calling for a review of the project’s spill mitigation plans, saying that WCMRC’s plan for such an event is outdated.
“I understand why people want the traffic flow of tankers to remain at a low level until certainty is given. We can’t do that,” said B.C. Environment Minister George Heyman. “Only the federal government through Transport Canada can do that.”
In June 2024, Transport Canada announced a 75-day consultation period, ending Sept. 5, for a regulatory impact analysis statement regarding the country’s preparation and response framework for potential oil spills. In the announcement, the department cited “gaps in both the Response Organizations Regulations and the Environmental Response Regulations, which could impact Canada’s readiness to respond to marine oil spills.”
Increased oil tanker shipments linked to the Trans Mountain Pipeline were specifically included as part of the rationale for undertaking such an analysis.
