Crude oil accumulates on the ocean surface

Surging Canadian Crude Oil Exports Put the Salish Sea at Risk

Oil tanker traffic is on the rise, increasing the risks of shipping accidents and major oil spills in the Salish Sea. Notably, tanker traffic that is exporting Canadian tar sands crude could increase by 1,250 transits per year.

That’s almost three and a half new oil tanker transits per day, or 24 per week.

A New Canadian Pipeline Will Increase Crude Oil Exports by 1 Million Barrels Per Day

Canada is fast-tracking a new pipeline from Alberta to the west coast to export an additional 1 million bpd of tar sands crude oil via oil tankers. The pipeline would terminate in northern British Columbia or the Port of Vancouver in the Salish Sea.

Canada has put forth a plan to expedite permitting for major projects, including ports, pipelines and transportation infrastructure, that puts endangered species and marine ecosystems at risk.

This is especially concerning for the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales – a population that is made up of 74 individuals and that has been struggling to successfully reproduce over the last decade due to environmental threats including ship strikes, pollution, and climate change.

Friends estimates an additional 730 vessel transits per year through the Salish Sea from this pipeline project alone, based on the assumption that it this project will be able to fully load one Suezmax oil tanker  per day.

More Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansions

In May 2024, the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project was completed, increasing export capacity from 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) to 890,000 bpd. Canada is now proposing an additional pipeline expansion, to 1.25 million bpd. The expansion would include dredging 25,000 cubic meters (m3) of sediments to accommodate larger ships, exposing marine habitats to contaminants lodged in the dredged material. The expansion would also include increasing throughput by 60,000 bpd in Trans Mountain’s Puget Sound pipeline that delivers tar sands crude oil to Washington’s four northern refineries: BP Cherry Point, Phillips 66, HF Sinclair, and Marathon Petroleum.

Location of the Trans Mountain Puget Sound Pipeline in Washington. Source: Washington Department of Ecology

According to the Washington Department of Ecology, the pipeline already poses a risk to the Salish Sea because it crosses the Nooksack River twice, the Samish River, Swinomish Channel, and many creeks along the east side of Padilla Bay. In addition to disrupting these watersheds, enhanced throughput for the Trans Mountain Pipeline puts sensitive marine and coastal ecosystems at risk as transshipment exports through the Salish Sea are projected to increase along with pipeline capacity.

Impacts from Canadian Crude Oil Exports

A major tar sands crude oil spill from these project expansions would be catastrophic.

Canada’s tar sands contain some of the world’s largest crude oil reserves. Extracting the bitumen—a heavy, sticky form of crude oil found in sand and clay deposits—requires large amounts of heat or chemical diluents, making its life‑cycle emissions roughly 15–30% higher than conventional oil. Research has also shown that actual pollutant emissions of crude oil extraction can far exceed reported levels, intensifying climate and air‑quality impacts, while increasing marine and aquatic contamination.

The extraction process produces toxic tailings stored in vast ponds that leak into surrounding ecosystems, affecting groundwater, wildlife, and the health and food sources that communities rely on. Once diluted, the bitumen—also known as dilbit—is transported through pipelines, where it is loaded onto oil tankers that use the Salish Sea as an export route. The cumulative climate, ecological, and cultural impacts of this fuel source remain significant and long‑lasting.

A 2014 United States Coast Guard report on diluted bitumen oil spills addressed the uncertainty of behavior, compounded by the volatile and toxic chemicals that are mixed with bitumen, which complicates spill response. “The initial portion of an oil sand product response would emphasize minimizing public and responder hazards from light VOCs [volatile organic compounds] that would volatize in the first several hours/days of the event.” According to a 2022 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report, the behavior of a major diluted bitumen oil spill in marine waters is still unknown.

What is Friends Doing About the Issue?

Canada’s New Crude Oil Pipeline

With the recent announcement that Canada is fast-tracking a new crude oil pipeline from Alberta to the west coast, Friends is helping to rally opposition of this pipeline to protect the Salish Sea and all that rely on this fragile ecosystem.  

In June 2026, Friends submitted a comment letter to the Clerk of the Privy Council and the Secretary to the Cabinet of Canada asking them to maintain the integrity of Canada’s Species at Risk Act (SARA) when permitting for projects that impact crude oil exports throughout the Salish Sea.

Trans Mountain Pipeline

Friends of the San Juans’ opposition to the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project and its increase in oil tanker traffic in the Salish Sea dates back to 2014 when our first comment letter was sent to Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) in response to the proposed expansion from 300,000 bpd to 890,000 bpd. Friends documented impacts to the transboundary Salish Sea, including communities in Washington State, from the expansion’s increase in oil tanker traffic and the associated increase in accident and oil spill risk.

Throughout the permitting process, Friends provided outreach to our members, the public, and elected officials educating them about the environmental risks and impacts of the expansion, encouraging them to submit their own comments to Canada’s NEB opposing the project.  

As the project escalated, Friends signed onto a comment letter sent by Washington State Environmental Nongovernmental Organizations (ENGOs) to U.S. members of Congress that regularly engage in bilateral consultations with Canada expressing concerns with the Trans Mountain Expansion Project.

In March 2026, Friends of the San Juans was joined by 12 nongovernmental organizations that work in Washington State on environmental and public health and safety issues in submitting comments opposing the proposed Burrard Inlet dredging project that would significantly expand Trans Mountain exports throughout the Salish Sea.

Friends is monitoring and engaging in all permitting related to the expansion of Trans Mountain’s Puget Sound pipeline. Friends submitted comments with the Whatcom Environmental Council on a recent application submitted by Trans Mountain to the Northwest Clean Air Agency. Trans Mountain recently withdrew that permit application. Friends also submitted comments on another Puget Sound pipeline project in 2024.

Friends is tracking the expansion of Canadian tar sands crude oil exports and is dedicated to leveraging all available resources to limit  increases in oil tanker traffic and oil spill risks in the Salish Sea.

How You Can Help

Please join us in taking action to protect species like the critically endangered Southern Resident killer whales from additional oil tanker traffic impacts by reaching out to your elected representatives and making your voice heard about the need to increase protections for the Salish Sea.

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