Opinion We need frank talk about the symbolic West Coast tanker ban
News Source : Financial Post
News Summary
- The Exxon Valdez disaster triggered a global transformation in oil tanker safety.
- Double-hulled vessels, mandatory pilotage, voyage management systems, radar, escort tug protocols, crew training and international regulatory regimes all changed.
- Transport Canada’s own risk modelling shows northwest coast of British Columbia was already the safest region in the country for tanker transits.
- The highest-risk zones are actually in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, where heavy tanker volumes pass through an extraordinarily sensitive marine system every day.
When Canadians talk about oil tankers or coastal energy, we often fall back into a political time warp. The Exxon Valdez disaster is invoked like a ritual warning cry as if nothing in the world has c [+6329 chars]
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