Open letter calls for B.C. to step up plan for oil spill evacuation

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Dozens of health officials, Indigenous and environmental groups and city councillors opposed to the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion are calling on B.C. to push the federal government for a more robust oil spill response plan.

In an open letter sent Wednesday to B.C.’s minister of environment and climate change strategy, George Heyman, the groups contend that there’s still no credible plan to handle an evacuation of coastal communities as the expanded pipeline begins operations.

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The letter’s signatories are calling on the minister to advise the federal government and the TMX owner that no additional tankers be allowed through the First and Second Narrows in Vancouver until there is a credible plan to protect the health and safety of people in the region from a Trans Mountain pipeline oil spill.

Environment Minister George Heyman said the government is already working with the federal government on a safety plan.

In an emailed statement Thursday, Heyman said while spill response and marine shipping are constitutional areas of federal jurisdiction, the province continues to work with the federal government, provincial health authorities, local communities and First Nations to ensure a robust human health risk assessment will be completed.

“This report will allow B.C. to ensure it is doing everything within our jurisdiction to protect people and to continue to advocate to the federal government to ensure there are robust marine spill and response plans in place, and the resources to implement them,” he said in the statement.

Communities across B.C. are also required to have an all-hazard local emergency plan, which includes evacuation planning for things like earthquakes and spills, according to the B.C. government.

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The letter says the groups that would need to be co-ordinated for a spill response, such as the coast guard, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, health authorities, Metro Vancouver Regional District, and the West Coast Marine Response Corp., haven’t yet met to plan for a spill in Burrard Inlet.

However, the company plans to move forward. A spokesperson for Trans Mountain said the project has been through multiple federal and provincial regulatory reviews.

“Concerns about prevention and response to marine oil spill have been thoroughly canvassed and addressed through risk reviews and appropriate mitigation,” the company said in an emailed statement.

Environmental response to marine oil spills is under the jurisdiction and authority of the Canadian Coast Guard.

As part of the expansion project, Trans Mountain says it spent more than $150 million for a robust oil spill response regime. This included reducing response time and doubling the fleet for the Western Canada Marine Response Corp., which would respond to a potential spill.

Both Heyman and former premier John Horgan argued there were gaps in the federal government’s oil spill response plan, including the lack of a transparent emergency towing strategy.

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In 2022, B.C. amended the conditions of its environmental assessment certificate for the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion and told the federal government it still has concerns about its response to potential marine oil spills.

Among B.C.’s new conditions is a requirement that Trans Mountain, a federal Crown corporation, provide a report on health risks in the event of a marine oil spill. It must identify measures to reduce human exposure and negative health effects and outline which authorities would be responsible.

Another condition requires Trans Mountain to provide a report with baseline data on B.C.’s shoreline in areas that could be affected by an oil spill, including Vancouver’s English Bay and the Georgia Strait.

“We are gravely concerned with the environmental impacts of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion — both the incredibly harsh reality of a possible toxic spill as well as the impacts of daily increased tanker traffic on the marine ecosystem, and the increase in greenhouse-gas emissions from heavier fossil fuel extraction,” said Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, in a statement Wednesday.

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Vancouver Coun. Pete Fry, one of the letter’s signatories, drew comparisons with the container ship that lost power and destroyed one of Baltimore’s major bridges.

“Accidents happen, even in a modern North American port,” said Fry.

With files from The Canadian Press

ticrawford@postmedia.com

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