Health and climate advocates are urging British Columbia to develop a credible evacuation plan in case of an oil spill in Vancouver’s Burrard Inlet as the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project opens for business.
In a letter dated May 8 and addressed to British Columbia’s Environment and Climate Change Strategy Minister George Heyman, environmental advocacy organizations, along with city councillors from Vancouver, Burnaby, New Westminster, Port Moody, Green Party of Canada co-leader Elizabeth May and prominent environmentalist David Suzuki warn that safety measures to protect lives and human health in the event of an oil spill are not in place.
Trans Mountain has published emergency response plans for its pipeline and terminals, but because a spill in Burrard Inlet would involve multiple jurisdictions, a “Greater Vancouver Integrated Response Plan” has been developed. That plan spells out how initial assessments of marine spills would be conducted, reported and communicated. But according to the letter’s signatories, it’s up to the B.C. government to clarify responsibilities specifically.