Macleans – Nov.22, 2017

The only certainty is that the ecosystem hit by a large spill would pay the environmental price

Vancouver’s Second Narrows Bridge offers spectacular views of the city skyline and Pacific Ocean on one side and Burrard Inlet on the other. The latter is a near pristine fjord covered in hemlock, Douglas fir and spruce in the shadow of Burnaby and Seymour mountains. Its cold, deep waters are inhabited by chinook and coho salmon, pods of majestic orca whales and Kinder Morgan’s Westridge Marine Terminal.

If the Texas company’s plan for expanding its Trans Mountain pipeline linking Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C., is completed, the risk of irreparable damage to Burrard Inlet and Vancouver’s entire marine ecosystem would rise to a high level.
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But questions about the role of liability insurance, and who pays for cleaning up an oil spill in a worst case scenario, have been conveniently ignored by Ottawa, Kinder Morgan, regulators and the oil industry. They are in other words a kind of flight recorder waiting to be opened in the event that Trans Mountain crashes in spectacular fashion…

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