Surge in oil tanker traffic threatens Salish Sea, Southern Resident Orcas, and shoreline communities

||| FROM LOVEL PRATT for FRIENDS OF THE SAN JUANS |||

Friends of the San Juans is raising urgent concerns over a dramatic increase in oil tanker traffic in the Salish Sea driven by expanding Canadian tar sands pipeline projects and new proposals to fast-track oil export infrastructure to Canada’s Pacific coast.

Canada is Fast-Tracking a New Tar Sands Crude Oil Pipeline
Canada is advancing plans to expedite permits for major infrastructure projects, including ports, pipelines, and transportation corridors tied to oil exports. Plans to establish a new, 1 million barrel per day (bpd) tar sands crude oil pipeline, in combination with the recent and proposed further expansions of Canada’s existing Trans Mountain Pipeline system could result in more than 956 additional oil tanker transits per year through the Salish Sea. This would significantly elevate the risk of catastrophic oil spills, vessel accidents, underwater noise pollution, and harm to endangered marine wildlife, including the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales.

The new pipeline may be routed to the Port of Vancouver; adding an estimated 365 oil tankers or at least 730 additional oil tanker transits per year in the Salish Sea.

“This new pipeline proposal ignores the cumulative impacts and risks to endangered species, Sovereign Nation and Treaty-protected resources, and coastal communities and economies on both sides of the border,” Lovel Pratt, Marine Protection and Policy Director of Friends of the San Juans, stated.

More Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansions
In May 2024, the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project was completed, increasing export capacity from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 barrels per day. That expansion hasn’t reached capacity; an additional 113 oil tankers will be loaded per year when the terminal is operating at full capacity. Canada is now considering an additional expansion to 1.25 million barrels per day. The expansion proposal includes dredging 25,000 cubic meters in the Burrard Inlet so that oil tankers can be fully loaded. Dredging disturbs contaminated sediments, puts pollutants back into the water column and re-exposes marine habitats to historical contamination, threatening marine life, water quality, and the health of the Salish Sea ecosystem.

The proposed expansion would also increase exports through Trans Mountain’s Puget Sound pipeline, which supplies tar sands crude oil to Washington’s four northern refineries. According to the Washington Department of Ecology, the pipeline already poses serious environmental risks to watersheds and marine ecosystems in Washington state as it crosses the Nooksack River (twice), the Samish River, Swinomish Channel, and numerous creeks flowing into Padilla Bay.

Threats to Southern Resident Orcas
The increase in oil tanker traffic is especially alarming for the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales, whose population currently numbers just 74 individuals. Additional tanker activity would intensify underwater noise and increase the risk of accidents and oil spills in the Southern Residents’ critical habitat in the Salish Sea, further threatening the already dwindling population.

A Major Tar Sands Oil Spill Would Be Catastrophic
Tar sands crude oil—also called diluted bitumen or “dilbit”—poses unique dangers if spilled. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, diluted bitumen spills present major response uncertainties due to the behavior of bitumen and the toxic volatile chemicals it is diluted with. A dilbit spill in the Salish Sea could cause economic, cultural, and ecological losses that would extend across generations. The repeated re-suspension of submerged and sunken oil could re-expose ecosystems over time, and oil residues can remain in sediments, shoreline, and benthic habitats for years to decades, continually releasing toxins.

Friends’ Longstanding Work to Protect the Salish Sea
For more than a decade, Friends has educated the public, mobilized community members, coordinated with elected officials, and joined regional organizations in opposing the project and advocating for stronger protections for the Salish Sea.

“The Salish Sea is one interconnected ecosystem,” Eva Schulte, Executive Director of Friends of the San Juans, said. “Protecting it requires standing up to projects that would increase vessel traffic, underwater noise and disturbance, accident and oil spill risk, intensify climate pollution, and endanger the wildlife and communities that depend on this inland sea.”

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