Council letter to community | Increased oil tanker traffic in the Salish Sea

Council’s letter expresses concern for heightened risk of oil spills in the region; requests government partners to take all possible action to address risk

||| FROM SAN JUAN COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS |||

August 25, 2026

From Lime Kiln Park on the west side of San Juan Island, you can often spot the tall black fins of our resident Orcas. Increasingly, those remarkable animals are silhouetted against a large oil tanker. Like the Orca, the tankers come from Canada then pass through the narrow channels of the Salish Sea on their way to the ocean.

The San Juan County Council is concerned about increased oil tanker traffic and the heightened risk of oil spills. Canada is building pipelines and shipping terminals to deliver tar sands oil to global markets. It has already expanded its Transmountain Pipeline, including its extension to US refineries near Bellingham, and deepened its harbor shipping channels to accommodate more heavily loaded ships. These expansions have tripled the number of tanker transits since 2016. On July 1, Mark Carney, Premier of Canada and the Governor of Alberta, announced that Canada plans to build an entirely new pipeline in the existing corridor. The new proposed pipeline will terminate at Roberts Bank, seven miles from the US border. If the pipeline is built, seven times the number of tankers will pass through the narrow shipping lanes west of San Juan Island by 2034.

Oil tanker shipping lanes from greater Vancouver, BC, follow the aptly named Boundary Pass north of Orcas Island to Turn Point on the northern tip of Stuart Island and then pass through Haro Strait along the western shore of San Juan Island before finally entering the Pacific Ocean through the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The most hazardous part of the journey is at Turn Point where the shipping channel narrows to under two miles across. The oil tankers navigating there are up to three football fields long and carry up to 800,000 barrels of liquid cargo. An increasing amount of that cargo is heavy crude oil called dilbit or dilute bitumen. Dilbit sinks if spilled; in the event of an accident, it will be much harder to clean up.

Our shorelines, kelp beds and seagrass meadows, fisheries and cetaceans including the endangered southern resident orcas, and our tourist-dependent economies are all on the line, on both sides of the border. A catastrophic oil spill could ruin the biologically rich ecosystem that we all benefit from and enjoy. Without the best available protection, the risk is not limited to our county; other communities that border the Salish Sea are also exposed and vulnerable. Protecting our shared environment is critical not just to the iconic Orea but to our entire way of life.

The risk and consequences of an accident cross the international border affecting British Columbians and Washingtonians alike. Our two countries have a history of cooperation and planning to prevent and respond to shipping accidents. The United States and Canada already operate a joint vessel traffic management system and coordinate responses to spills. Prompted by Canada’s July announcement about building a new pipeline that would double the throughput of heavier-than-water Alberta tar sands oil, Congressman Rick Larsen, who represents our region and is the leading Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, wrote on July 27, 2026, to the Commandant of the US Coast Guard for answers on how the new Alberta to British Columbia pipeline will impact the Salish Sea and local marine habitats. He said during a Congressional Hearing, “Due to Canada’s plans to ship more oil in the Salish Sea, the Coast Guard’s oil spill prevention and response mission in the Pacific Northwest is even more critical. The Coast Guard must immediately begin prevention planning through the Canada-United States Joint Marine Pollution Contingency Plan.”

Good intentions are a start, and we also need actions to protect our environment, economy, and way of life. As stewards of this precious ecosystem, it is incumbent upon us to take all possible action to address this growing risk more comprehensively. First, we must place concerted pressure on US and Canadian industry and provincial, state and federal governments in Canada and the US to establish the capability to mitigate and remediate dangerous heavy crude oil spills. It is essential that the necessary education, training and equipment is secured to prepare for a potential heavy oil spill and ensure a rapid response to prevent what would be a catastrophic disaster in the Salish Sea.

Next, we must bolster our years’ long efforts with our many Canadian and US partners to secure a quick-response rescue tug near Haro Strait, like the emergency rescue towing vessel (ERTV) at Neah Bay which is supported through a partnership between the State of Washington and the oil refining industry. This oil spill prevention resource responds to ships going to and from Canada as well as the United States. Over 25 years, the Neah Bay vessel responded to ninety-five vessels in need of assistance, including twenty-eight in Canadian waters. Neah Bay is over a hundred miles from the narrow channel at Turn Point, a journey that can take up to six hours. An ERTV is needed in closer proximity with more rapid response times.

The risks associated with the new Canadian pipeline and its transportation projects need to be addressed comprehensively, holistically, and bilaterally. The residents of San Juan County need Governor Ferguson, Congressman Larsen, and our other elected local, state and federal leaders to engage with their Canadian partners and the US Coast Guard to help ensure that every risk reduction and safety measure is procured. The voices of our community will be critical to the success of our joint advocacy efforts on this increasingly time sensitive issue.

In solidarity,

• Kari McVeigh, District 1
• Justin Paulsen, District 2, County Council Chair
• Jane Fuller, District 3