en.Wedoany.com Reported - U.S. Representative Rick Larsen of Washington State has asked the U.S. Coast Guard to review and update oil spill response plans, citing that a proposed pipeline would increase tanker traffic in the Salish Sea.

Larsen wrote to senior U.S. Coast Guard officials this week, inquiring about details of coordination between Canadian and American pollution response plans. He stated that this response plan has become particularly important following the announcement of a new pipeline project from Alberta to the Roberts Bank terminal in British Columbia—a terminal located just a few kilometers by water from the Canada-U.S. border.

Larsen noted that the pipeline would increase tanker traffic in waters near Washington State, bringing with it "the risk of a catastrophic oil spill." He explained that the joint response plan outlines how the two countries would coordinate in responding to an oil spill that could harm "the marine ecosystems and environments of both nations."

As the top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Larsen wants the U.S. Coast Guard to respond on this plan, while also indicating that he will inform his Canadian counterparts that the constituents he represents "oppose this pipeline."