Northern oil tanker route is hot south Island issue

Tories' resources minister Lunn faces criticism from Liberal, Green rivals

Judith Lavoie
Times Colonist
October 12, 2008

Hundreds of kilometres away from the inlets and islands of northern B.C., the largely suburban riding of Saanich-Gulf Islands is ground zero in a controversy over whether tankers should carry Alberta oil through wild northern waters to energy-hungry Asian countries.

While pipeline giant Enbridge Inc. and some northern communities are pushing to ship oil from the Alberta oilsands to a tanker port at Kitimat, others fear spills would be inevitable -- and with Minister of Natural Resources Gary Lunn as the Conservative incumbent in the riding, the issue has become part of the election campaign.

The Dogwood Initiative environmental group is heading the push for a legislated ban on oil tankers in coastal waters, since the legal status of such a ban is currently unclear. Lunn is on the record as saying the Inside Passage is currently covered by a "voluntary exclusion zone," one that has never been firmly set into law.

Former environment minister David Anderson, however, has frequently said a formal moratorium is already in place.

"We want a new ban that's crystal clear," said Dogwood spokesman Eric Swanson.

"The NDP and the Liberals and the Green party support it. The only party that's not in support of this concept is the Conservatives."

Lunn says the moratorium never existed and, as nothing has changed, an all-out ban is not necessary.

It will be years before the planned Enbridge pipeline goes through all the necessary reviews, and the decision will then be based on science, environmental protection and public input, with the final decision made by the entire cabinet, he said.

Lunn said he will never support tankers going down the Inside Passage, and he accused his opponents of spreading disinformation.

"There's another way to go; it's called out in the open water. Why put them down a narrow channel?" he said.

However, Lunn defines the Inside Passage as the channel between Vancouver Island and the mainland, and opponents accuse him of comparing apples and oranges.

Will Horter, Dogwood executive director, said he wonders how tankers can get to Kitimat without going through Hecate Strait and Douglas Channel.

"Are they going to beam them in, like Star Trek?"

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion's platform includes formalizing the tanker moratorium, and Liberal candidate Briony Penn is adamantly against allowing tankers into northern B.C. waters.

"I have worked all up that coast, and it's rocky and stormy and utterly wild. It's a huge seismic zone. I don't think it can be done safely," Penn said.

The Queen of the North ferry sank in the same area.

The ban is already being broken by tankers carrying condensate to Kitimat, Penn said. Condensate, which is used to dilute the heavy oil produced by the oilsands, is shipped to Alberta by rail after landing at Kitimat.

"We need someone at the table who will staunchly defend the interests of coastal British Columbians, who stand to lose an extraordinary amount," Penn said.

Green party candidate Andrew Lewis, supporting a legislated ban on tankers in the northern coastal waters, acknowledged it would kill plans for a pipeline.

Oil transport projects floated

Several projects are in the works to bring oil from Alberta's oilsands to the port of Kitimat, where it would be loaded onto tankers and shipped to Asia.

The most advanced is the $4.5-billion Enbridge Northern Gateway Project, a twin 1,200-kilometre pipeline, running from near Edmonton and across the mountains to Kitimat. The pipelines would export 400,000 barrels a day of oilsands crude and import condensate -- thinner used in the oil industry.

The project has to go through an extensive public review process, led by the National Energy Board and the Environmental Assessment Agency. Enbridge plans to apply by next year. If approved, the pipeline could be in operation by 2014.

The company's marine plan calls for vessels going into Kitimat to be modern and double-hulled, with travel speed in marine channels reduced to between eight and 12 knots.

The tankers will be tethered to powerful, state-of-the-art super-tugs in coastal waterways.

First response stations will be located at the terminal and in local communities and, while docked at the terminal, vessels will be surrounded by a "floating environmental protection system."

© Times Colonist (Victoria) 2008