Greens call for moratorium on crude oil traffic
Posted September 19, 2013 2:54 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Oil tanker traffic through Vancouver harbour is again up for debate, with a call by the Greens for a moratorium on crude oil traffic through Vancouver harbour.
The party’s lone MLA warns a spill could spell disaster.
Andrew Weaver argues the Northern Gateway hearings have revealed an inability to respond to a spill of diluted bitumen.
And he says if the province opposes that pipeline, it should also oppose crude oil traffic currently leaving Burnaby.
“The economic consequences of a dilbit spill into Vancouver harbour would be profound, not the least of which on our tourism industry. Yet it’s going ahead.”
There were 50 crude oil tankers that went through Vancouver last year.
Weaver notes if the Trans Mountain pipeline project gains approval, that number could rise dramatically.
“We’re not saying stop shipping refined products out of Burnaby port. We’re saying stop shipping raw dilbit, because raw dilbit is a very different, it’s a nasty substance if it gets in the ocean.”
Weaver accuses the BC government of failing to deal with the threat dilbit tanker traffic from the Trans Mountain facility in Burnaby poses to the BC coast.
