Washington state congressman wants spill response review for Alberta pipeline to B.C.

A congressman from Washington State says the U.S. Coast Guard should review and update oil spill response plans as news of a planned pipeline from Alberta to B.C. would increase oil tanker traffic in the Salish Sea. 

Rep. Rick Larsen says he sent a letter to a top U.S. Coast Guard official this week seeking details about co-ordination efforts around a Canada-U.S. pollution contingency plan.

Larsen says the contingency plan is important after the announcement of a new oil pipeline from Alberta to B.C.’s Roberts Bank terminal, just a few kilometres by water from the Canada-U.S. border. 

He says the pipeline will bring more oil tanker traffic to the waters off his state, and “with it the risk of catastrophic oil spills.” 

Larsen says the joint contingency plan details how the two countries co-ordinate preparation for oil spills that could harm “marine ecosystems and environments in both nations.” 

The congressman, who’s the top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, says he wants answers from the U.S. Coast Guard on the plan, and will tell his Canadian counterparts why people he represents “oppose this pipeline.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 31, 2026

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