THE chief of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation says his band is adamantly opposed to Kinder Morgan's plan to dramatically increase the volume of oil being shipped by tanker through Burrard Inlet.
"We believe it's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when an accident occurs," said Justin George, elected chief of the Tsleil-Waututh, whose territory in North Vancouver lies directly across Burrard Inlet from the company's Westridge port facility in Burnaby.
"What Kinder Morgan is proposing is that Vancouver becomes an oil port city," said George.
"We've been clear in our opposition," he said. "The environmental risks associated with it are way too high."
George made his comments after Kinder Morgan announced plans last week to dramatically increase its export of crude oil from Alberta to 850,000 barrels a day from the current 300,000. That would require the twinning of its pipeline from Edmonton to Vancouver, which runs through several Lower Mainland communities.
The proposed expansion could mean tanker traffic in Burrard Inlet would jump to 365 tankers a year from about 70 currently.
But George said his band feels strongly that most residents of the Lower Mainland and North Shore aren't in favour of the project.
George said there are few economic benefits for anyone locally - those are going to the Alberta tar sands, China and the shareholders of Kinder Morgan, he said.
But local residents, including the Tsleil-Waututh, will be asked to bear all the risks.
George said disaster response in the event of an oil spill is limited at best, noting that when the Kinder Morgan pipeline was punctured in Burnaby in 2007, some of the 234,000 litres of oil spilled into Burrard Inlet and washed up on the shores of Cates Park and Maplewood Flats.
"We are deeply rooted and connected to Burrard Inlet. It's the heart of who we are as a people," said George. "They're putting us at a huge risk for accidents."
Kinder Morgan announced last week it plans to consult with local communities and First Nations about the proposed $5billion expansion over 18 to 24 months. The company plans to ask the National Energy Board for approval of the project in late 2013 or early 2014.
George said his band will make sure its opposition to the project is heard. "We have inherent rights. We have aboriginal rights and title. We're going to assert those rights," he said. "We will be heard."
"This is bad business," said George. "It's unsustainable business."
Last week, mayors of both Burnaby and Vancouver came out strongly against the proposed pipeline and tanker traffic expansion, while voicing fears the federal government could overrule the objections of local communities opposed to the project if Ottawa decides it's in "the national interest."
In North Vancouver, mayors of both the city and district said the prospect of many more oil tankers in Burrard Inlet carries risks for the North Shore.
"It is an issue," said City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto. "If there was an accident with the tankers in the inlet, the potential for the oil to spill on to the shores of the city is quite high."
Mussatto said the planned expansion is much larger than he thought it would be. "It's a significant increase," he said.
Mussatto said the risks of an oil spill from the double-hulled tankers are very low - probably much lower than the risks of a chemical spill from a rail car on the North Shore - but they still exist.
"We never thought a cruise ship would run aground and people would die and they're pretty safe vessels, yet we see the Costa Concordia running aground (off the Italian coast)," he said.
Mussatto said a larger concern is the continued dependence on tar-sands oil that the pipeline expansion represents.
District of North Vancouver Mayor Richard Walton said his council hasn't taken a position against increased tanker traffic, but added, "We're not beyond taking a position like that" once they have more information.
Walton said that needs to be based on a clear understanding of the risks involved, rather than simply an emotional response to the project.
"My gut response is obviously if you're increasing the amount of traffic dramatically in a contained space, the risk of an oil spill is going to go up dramatically as well," he said.
"I don't see oil coming down through the harbour and out through the Strait of Juan de Fuca benefiting anyone locally," said Walton. "If we're bearing the risks here and we're not receiving any of the economic benefit, we have to say how great are these risks?"
Walton said local politicians will be watching to see if the public process around the project does an adequate job of identifying those potential risks.
Kinder Morgan's plan to expand oil exports comes in the same week the federal government announced plans to streamline environmental reviews of major projects.
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