Proposed Canada pipeline project would threaten US tribal rights, lawyer says

Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain project to expand system's crude oil capacity is 'all risk and no reward' for tribes, who were not consulted, lawyer notes

A proposed pipeline-expansion project in Canada will put the fishing rights and cultural heritage of US tribes at risk, a lawyer representing several Washington state tribes told Canadian energy regulators.

Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain project would nearly triple pipeline capacity from 300,000 to 890,000 barrels of crude oil a day. It would carry oil from Alberta's oil sands to the Vancouver area to be loaded on to barges and tankers for Asian and US markets. The project would dramatically increase the number of oil tankers that ply Washington state waters.