# 4 Oil spills from tankers

At the very end of the article “ the economic impact of carbon tax” is a list of unanswered question about tanker traffic related to the Northern Gateway Pipeline project. It is noted that according to a US Coast Guard report, covering 1991 to 2004, only 5% of the oil spills were caused by tankers and that later figures should be obtained, A  significant later figure is supplied by the British Columbians for International Prosperity http://www.bc4ip.ca/info/?l=1. Among many other interesting shipping data they note that there has not been a single spill from the tankers which, since 1956 shipped the oil from Kinder Morgan’s site in Burnaby. The website provides links to Transport Canada and videos about the Northern Gateway project. It is emphasized that tanker design has improved since the first double hull ships were built. Despite all this there is no clear answer how the concerns which Captain Walsh expressed at the inquiry have been resolved. Regarding the use of 20 year old double hulled vessels which he described to be at the end of their service life it is good to know how thoroughly ships are inspected as described in http://www.classnk.or.jp/hp/en/about/aboutNK/index.html It shows how much well trained and experienced  personnel is required for each of the many tasks.

Availability of personnel, well defined tasks and guaranteed oversight of each activity will be the key to make this project acceptable. As listed under point 12 of “the economic impact of carbon tax” it is clear that past problems were caused by having insufficient experienced personnel allocated to the required activities. The present pipeline proposal has addressed this but the extent should be clearly explained to the public . The other concerns of Captain Walsh, number of pilots, number of tugs and treatment of ballast should also be discussed in newspapers and magazines to let the public know how safe the operations will be.