Surge in oil tanker traffic threatens Salish Sea, Southern Resident orcas and shoreline communities | Column
Published 1:30 am Monday, July 6, 2026
Submitted by the Friends of the San Juans.
Friends of the San Juans is raising urgent concerns over a dramatic increase in oil tanker traffic in the Salish Sea driven by new and expanding Canadian pipeline projects.
Canada is Fast-Tracking a New Tar Sands Crude Oil Pipeline
On July 2, Canada announced the route for its new one-million-barrel-per-day crude oil pipeline. Canada is upholding their oil tanker ban in northern BC by routing the new pipeline to its southern coast that borders Washington State and the unceded waters of the Salish Sea. According to the West Coast Oil Pipeline Project submission:
The marine facility at Roberts Bank would be designed to handle large ocean-going tankers. It would include two loading berths capable of serving very large crude carriers. These vessels can carry about 1.9 million to 2.2 million barrels of oil per shipment.
The new pipeline and the recent and proposed further expansions of Canada’s existing Trans Mountain Pipeline would significantly elevate the risk of catastrophic oil spills, vessel accidents, underwater noise pollution, and harm to endangered marine wildlife, including the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales. Canada is also advancing plans to expedite permits for major infrastructure projects, including ports, pipelines, and transportation corridors tied to oil exports.
“This new pipeline proposal ignores the cumulative impacts and risks to endangered species, Sovereign Nations and Treaty-protected resources, and coastal communities and economies on both sides of the border,” Lovel Pratt, Marine Protection and Policy Director of Friends of the San Juans, stated.
More Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansions
In May 2024, the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project was completed, increasing export capacity from 300,000 barrels per day to 890,000 barrels per day. That expansion hasn’t reached capacity; an additional 113 oil tankers will be loaded per year when the terminal is operating at full capacity. Canada is now considering an additional expansion to 1.19 million barrels per day. This would also increase exports through Trans Mountain’s Puget Sound pipeline, which supplies tar sands crude oil to Washington’s four northern refineries.
Threats to Southern Resident Orcas
The increase in oil tanker traffic is especially alarming for the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales, whose population currently numbers just 74 individuals. Additional tanker activity would intensify underwater noise and increase the risk of ship strikes, accidents and oil spills in the Southern Residents’ critical habitat in the San Juan Islands and Salish Sea, further threatening the already dwindling population.
A Major Tar Sands Oil Spill Would Be Catastrophic
Tar sands crude oil—also called diluted bitumen or “dilbit”—poses unique dangers if spilled. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, diluted bitumen spills present major response uncertainties due to the behavior of bitumen and the toxic volatile chemicals it is diluted with. A dilbit spill in the Salish Sea could cause economic, cultural, and ecological losses that would extend across generations. The repeated re-suspension of submerged and sunken oil could re-expose ecosystems over time, and oil residues can remain in sediments, shoreline, and benthic habitats for years to decades, continually releasing toxins.
Friends’ Longstanding Work to Protect the Salish Sea
For more than a decade, Friends has educated the public, mobilized community members, coordinated with elected officials, and joined regional organizations in opposing projects like the Trans Mountain Pipeline expansion, while advocating for stronger protections for the Salish Sea. In response to the new one-million-barrel-per-day pipeline proposal, Friends solicited more than 1,000 comment letters sent by Washington residents to elected officials, encouraging them to reach out to Canadian officials and ask them to
1) not route the new pipeline to the Salish Sea, and
2) uphold protections for endangered species when permitting major projects.
“The Salish Sea is one interconnected ecosystem,” Eva Schulte, Executive Director of Friends of the San Juans, said. “Protecting it requires standing up to projects that would increase vessel traffic, underwater noise and disturbance, accident and oil spill risk, intensify climate pollution, and endanger the wildlife and communities that depend on this inland sea.”
A Call to Action
In response to Canada’s proposal to expedite permits for major infrastructure projects like this new pipeline, Friends of the San Juans is asking its members and the public to take action and urge Canada to retain endangered species protections in the permitting of major projects.
More Information
Opportunity to Take Action, https://actionnetwork.org/letters/98dc93a1626309adcab7042b0def7f83?hash=347513939c971cb88912a48c196963f4 – Ask Canada to Retain Endangered Species Protections
Surging Canadian Crude Oil Exports Put the Salish Sea at Risk, https://sanjuans.org/surging-canadian-crude-oil-exports-put-the-salish-sea-at-risk/ – Friends of the San Juans
