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.”