(WA state) Oil tanker traffic likely to increase

[unhappycamper]

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/12/29/2968943/oil-tanker-traffic-likely-to-increase.html

Oil tanker traffic likely to increase
By PHUONG LE
The Associated Press
December 29, 2013

The number of oil tankers in Washington state waters could increase almost sevenfold under a proposal by a Canadian pipeline company to expand the amount of crude oil it sends to the Pacific Coast.

Kinder Morgan Canada filed a formal application with Canadian regulators earlier this month to expand its Trans Mountain pipeline that carries crude oil from Alberta’s oil sands to the Vancouver, B.C. area.

Under the proposal, up to 34 tankers a month would be loaded with oil at a terminal outside Vancouver, then generally travel through Haro Strait east of San Juan Island and the Strait of Juan de Fuca for export to markets in Asia and the U.S. That’s up from about five tankers a month.

The $5.4 billion expansion project would nearly triple pipeline capacity from about 300,000 to 890,000 barrels of crude oil a day to meet customer demand. Much of that future cargo will likely be diluted bitumen from Canada’s oil sands.

[Champion Jack]

1. What could possibly go wrong?

… I mean, the oil and gas industry has such stellar safety record