Has Kinder Morgan given up on Keystone XL? That may be the case, as indicated by its recent application to expand the capacity of a westward oil pipeline in Canada to a deep water port:
The number of oil tankers in Washington state waters could increase almost sevenfold under a proposal by a Canadian pipeline company to expand the amount of crude oil it sends to the Pacific Coast.
The Makah Nation is among the entities studying the risk to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Kinder Morgan Canada filed a formal application with Canadian regulators earlier this month to expand its Trans Mountain pipeline that carries crude oil from Alberta's oil sands to the Vancouver, B.C., area.
Under the proposal, up to 34 tankers a month would be loaded with oil at a terminal outside Vancouver, then generally travel through Haro Strait west of San Juan Island and the Strait of Juan de Fuca for export to markets in Asia and the U.S.
That's up from about five tankers a month now.
That's a major increase in marine traffic and spill potential within the Salish Sea and Straits of Juan de Fuca. At this time, there is one rescue tug stationed at Neah Bay, WA for the entrance to the Straits. Kinder touts its safety record in loading tankers at its current operation in Vancouver, but a seven times increase in volume has a commensurate increase in risk, both at the loading terminal and within the Straits itself, an already busy shipping lane.