Oppose the Pacific Link Pipeline and Supertankers to Protect Washington State

Governor Ferguson, Ecology Director Sixkiller, and all Washington State agencies responsible for environmental protections, oil spill prevention and response, wildlife and endangered species, public health, emergency management, and maritime safety

Overview

Forty-nine years ago, the U.S. Congress banned supertankers from Washington state. Now, Canada has proposed a new oil pipeline that would bring supertankers and their increased risks and impacts to Washington State waters in the Salish Sea. Join Friends of the San Juans in asking the state to oppose this new pipeline and supertanker traffic. Please sign the petition by October 19.


What’s at Stake?

Canada has designated the Pacific Link pipeline, formerly called the West Coast Oil Pipeline, as a “project of national interest”. The proposal would move one million barrels of tar sands crude oil per day to a massive new export terminal at Roberts Bank, just north of the U.S.–Canada border, and use Very Large Crude Carriers—supertankers—to export the oil through the Salish Sea.

A major oil spill, vessel casualty, or terminal accident would not stop at the Canada-U.S. border. Washington State’s waters, communities, Tribes, fisheries, endangered Southern Resident killer whales, and regional economies could suffer severe and lasting harm.

Governor Bob Ferguson and Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller issued a joint statement in response to this designation: "We are disappointed in the decision today by the Government of Canada to list the proposed oil pipeline as a project of national interest. The classification puts the project on a fast track, limiting environmental reviews and the ability to provide input.”  

Disappointment is not enough. Washington needs champions to protect the state from supertankers and their risks and impacts to our communities, economies, marine and shoreline ecosystems, fisheries, maritime safety, and Tribal Treaty Rights and the resources necessary to exercise those rights.  

Governor Bob Ferguson and Ecology Director Casey Sixkiller should use every available regulatory, diplomatic, technical, and legal avenue to oppose the Pacific Link pipeline. Governor Ferguson and Director Sixkiller should also insist on binding conditions that prevent accidents, reduce shipping impacts and oil spill risks, and provide the resources needed to protect and respond to accidents and oil spills in Washington State. Conditions based solely in British Columbia would leave Washington state dangerously exposed.


The Opportunity

Your voice is needed! If you live in Washington state, please sign this petition urging Governor Ferguson, Ecology Director Sixkiller, and other state agencies to use every available legal and regulatory tool to oppose the Pacific Link pipeline and its proposed use of supertankers. If Canada allows the project to proceed, the petition also calls for the state to demand enforceable and fully funded protection conditions based in Washington state.  

Thank you for speaking up to ensure that Washington state is not left to bear the risks and costs of this Canadian tar sands crude oil export project.


Learn More

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Friends of the San Juans has been advocating for stronger safeguards for the Salish Sea for more than 40 years. Learn more about the full breadth of our work at sanjuans.org. And, be sure you’re signed up for Action Alerts so you’ll be the first to know when new opportunities open for public comment with Friends of the San Juans!

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Friends of the San Juans
Friday Harbor, WA

To: Governor Ferguson, Ecology Director Sixkiller, and all Washington State agencies responsible for environmental protections, oil spill prevention and response, wildlife and endangered species, public health, emergency management, and maritime safety
From: [Your Name]

As a Washington state resident, I urge you to oppose Canada’s Pacific Link pipeline (formerly the West Coast Oil Pipeline), Roberts Bank crude oil export terminal, and the use of Very Large Crude Carriers, including through all available legal and regulatory actions.

The Pacific Link pipeline would transport one million barrels of tar sands crude oil per day to a terminal just north of the U.S.-Canada border. The terminal would store up to 6.5 million barrels of crude oil and load Very Large Crude Carriers for export. These supertankers are prohibited in Washington State east of Port Angeles (see RCW 88.16.190 and 33 C.F.R. Sec. 165.1303).

Accident and oil spill risk, air and water pollution, underwater noise, and other tanker traffic impacts do not stop at the border. This project could cause severe and lasting impacts to Washington waters, communities, public health, fisheries, Tribal Treaty Rights, endangered species, and the state’s economy.

Washington state should actively participate in all Canadian federal, provincial, port, marine-safety, and energy-regulatory proceedings. The Governor’s Office and state agencies should submit coordinated evidence, seek formal participant or intervenor status where available, take legal actions and preserve all legal options, and require thorough analyses of all transboundary risks and impacts.

If the project proceeds despite Washington state’s opposition, project conditions should include enforceable protections for the state, including:

- Washington state-based accident and oil-spill prevention and response resources, including dedicated emergency response towing capacity;

- equipment and trained personnel positioned to protect the state’s waters and shorelines;

- immediate cross-border notification and access to real-time incident information;

- coordinated spill command, exercises, trajectory modeling, and wildlife response;

- mutually identified measures protecting Southern Resident killer whales, salmon, seabirds, and sensitive shorelines;

- rigorous tanker escort, navigation, operating-condition, and emergency-shutdown requirements;

- continuous and publicly accessible air, water, noise, and vessel-traffic monitoring;

- transparent public reporting and independent oversight;

- enforceable funding and financial assurance covering Washington state’s prevention, preparedness, response, restoration, and compensation costs; and

- authority to strengthen or suspend operations when monitoring identifies unacceptable risks.

Washington state should not accept assurances or conditions that exist only in Canada. Any credible prevention and response system must provide the people, vessels, equipment, funding, and decision-making protocols needed on both sides of the border.

As a Washington resident, I expect the Governor, Ecology and other state agencies to protect our waters and communities before decisions are made, not after an accident occurs. Please oppose the Pacific Link pipeline and supertankers with every available legal and regulatory tool and ensure that Washington state is not left to bear the risks and costs of this Canadian tar sands crude oil export project. Also, please publicly identify the actions the Governor’s Office and state agencies will take to participate in Canadian proceedings, take legal actions, preserve legal options, and secure state-based prevention and response resources.