Seattle Times: Canadian court halts pipeline to consider impact on orcas

Orcas off RB Saltwater Park May 2017
Photo by Marion Woodfield

The Seattle Times carried a story Thursday about the Trans-Mountain pipeline being halted because the project did not consider the effect of increased tanker traffic on the resident orca population or address the concerns of the First Nations people.

Concern for critically endangered southern-resident killer whales has sunk the approval of Canada’s controversial Trans Mountain pipeline expansion. 

Approval for the expansion was revoked by a federal court in Canada, which ruled Thursday that the effects of the pipeline on orca whales were not addressed and the concerns of First Nations were not adequately considered.  

The Federal Court of Appeals is requiring the government to redo its consultation with First Nations and assess the impacts of the project on the whales.

Read the story here