Roberts Bank Oil Terminal Proposal Stirs Concerns Over Environmental Risks
Alberta's proposal to build an oil pipeline and terminal at Roberts Bank has sparked concerns about environmental risks, given that shipping bulk liquids there has been prohibited for decades. A report from March 1979 found that such spills could put the inter-causeway area out of biological production for months or more.
The project would be majority-owned by Alberta through its petroleum marketing commission and Canada through Trans Mountain, with Pembina Pipeline Corp. taking a 10-per-cent stake. The estimated cost is up to $44 billion. Canada is considering designating the project as one of national interest, which would expedite its environmental assessment.
Misty MacDuffee, director of wild salmon programs at Raincoast Conservation Foundation, was unaware of the prohibition on shipping bulk liquids from Roberts Bank and fears that lifting it could bypass normal review processes. Trans Mountain previously noted concerns about storage and transhipment of oil at the site in its 2013 environmental assessment application.
Alberta and Canada have not been able to answer questions about whether there is enough space for an oil-shipping terminal at Roberts Bank, which already contains several facilities including a B.C. Ferries terminal and Deltaport, Canada's largest container-handling facility.