Tanker traffic in northern waters worries environmentalists

Is there a moratorium on oil tanker traffic in B.C.'s northern coastal waters? Former environment minister David Anderson says yes. Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn says no.

There has never been a moratorium on oil tankers in B.C.'s northern inside waters, says Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn.

Despite a widespread belief that tankers are banned from the unpredictable waters of Queen Charlotte Sound, Hecate Strait and Dixon Entrance,  and government documents referring to a moratorium, it never really existed, Lunn said in an interview.

"There has never been a moratorium," he said. "There's a voluntary exclusion zone for tanker traffic that comes from Alaska down to the Strait of Juan de Fuca."

Former Liberal environment minister David Anderson believes the opposite is true.

"It's a preposterous statement that the moratorium doesn't exist for tankers," said the man who says he can remember discussing the ban with then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau in 1972.

The moratorium - or lack thereof - has become the subject of a campaign  to raise awareness of tanker traffic in the area. Motorists along the Pat Bay Highway or passengers at Schwartz Bay ferry terminal can see one manifestation of that campaign: Billboards that say "Oil tankers threaten B.C.'s coast."

The Dogwood Initiative, a Victoria-based environmental think tank, has, with other environmental groups, also launched a petition to the House of Commons to ban tankers in B.C.'s northern coastal waters.

 Lunn agrees that a moratorium on offshore oil and gas exploration does exist, and the federal government will be cautious about plans for pipelines from the Alberta oilsands to the West Coast, he said.

"We are seeing a lot of interest in new projects, and industry will be required to go through a comprehensive regulatory and approval process before we authorize port facilities that would mean a high volume of tanker traffic on B.C.'s coast," he said.

Five pipeline projects for Kitimat and Prince Rupert are in various stages of application and approval.

This means on one side there are billions of dollars worth of construction, exports of crude oil from Alberta and imports of liquid natural gas for energy-hungry customers down the west coast of North America.

On the other side are irate environmentalists and worried First Nations communities who see potential destruction of B.C.'s sensitive northern waters.

If the pipelines are approved, it would mean 320 tankers a year in the dangerous coastal waters, said Charles Campbell of the Dogwood Initiative.

Already, tankers are taking advantage of the situation, Campbell said.

"Fourteen tankers have been allowed through there since January 2006," he said.  All were carrying condensate - a chemical byproduct of natural gas needed to dilute crude oil from the Alberta oilsands, Campbell said.

"It's full of highly toxic substances, and low doses are carcinogenic," he said.

Claims there is a voluntary exclusion zone, rather than a full moratorium on tankers, are supported by provincial Energy Minister Richard Neufeld and Transport Canada.

"In B.C.'s view, the federal moratorium is solely directed at oil tanker traffic transiting the B.C. coast, not oil tankers sailing to or from B.C. ports," said Energy Ministry spokesman Graham Currie.

Those statements are enough to make Anderson almost sputter with frustration.

"I don't know why [the moratorium] wasn't written down. It surprises me it wasn't an order-in-council, but

I wasn't in cabinet at the time," he said.

Anderson, who has crusaded federally and provincially more than 35 years for an oil-free coast, was instrumental in having the moratorium on tankers recognized. That ban was later expanded to include offshore oil and gas exploration.

Local-supply traffic was always excluded, he said.

But assertions that the ban applies only to north-south traffic are "ridiculously silly," he said.

When Canada decided it did not want U.S. oil tankers hugging B.C.'s jagged coast, the quid pro quo was that the same rules would apply to Canadian tankers, Anderson said.

"Any other position would have been inconsistent to the point of being ludicrous. Now, clearly, there's a desire to expand exports of oil from the tarsands."

There is a need for public discussion about the possibility of accidents in the treacherous waters, Anderson said.

If a B.C. ferry can sink, imagine a Greek-flagged ship with a Cambodian captain who does not know the waters and a crew speaking four languages trying to cope with the complicated navigation, he said.

"Why would we want to do it?"

MORATORIUM OR NOT? WHAT THE REPORTS SAID

- In 2003-04, a Royal Society of Canada report on the science of offshore oil and gas activities said, "In 1972, the Government of Canada imposed a moratorium on crude-oil tanker traffic through Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound due to concerns over the potential environmental impacts."

The Royal Society panel concluded that the "present restriction on tanker traffic in transit along the west coast of North America from entering the coastal zone should be maintained for the time being."

- September 2004: A Department of Fisheries and Oceans timeline said: "1972 -- Government of Canada moratorium on crude oil tankers (subsequently expanded to all oil and gas activities). The review also notes that incidents such as the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill "dampened enthusiasm for lifting the moratoria."

- August 2005: Provincial Energy Minister Richard Neufeld in a letter to Enbridge Inc., about the planned Gateway Oil Pipeline Project, and "Enbridge's concerns regarding a moratorium on oil tanker traffic off B.C.'s coast," said the company should not be concerned.

"In 1972, the federal government announced a moratorium on foreign oil tanker traffic transiting the Canadian coast through Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound. This was a policy moratorium and is not based upon legislation," Neufeld said.
The ban is directed solely at foreign tanker traffic, the letter says. "The moratorium is not directed at, and has no application to, oil tankers sailing to or from B.C. ports."

- September 2006: Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon, in a letter replying to concerns expressed by the Pembina Institute, said, "There is only one tanker routing measure in place for the west coast of B.C. This is known as the tanker exclusion zone and is a voluntary measure agreed to by the U.S. and Canada as well as representatives of the U.S. tanker user group. It is not applicable to tanker traffic originating from ports in B.C. within [the zone], including the ports of Prince Rupert and Kitimat."