…. KIRO 7 asked Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington) if the Canadians are sufficiently prepared to handle oil spills. Her answer: “No.” Cantwell said the problem is the type of oil coming from the tar sands, a heavy crude called diluted bitumen. “This is not the Exxon Valdez,” Cantwell said. “It’s worse because the product will sink.” In 2014, during a Senate hearing for the then-nominee for Coast Guard commandant, Admiral Paul F. Zukunft, Cantwell asked Zukunft about readiness for oil spill cleanup. He responded that there’s good technology to remove oil from the surface, but “once it settles on the sea floor our technology is lacking.” “With the Coast Guard saying they don’t have a plan to deal with it, we shouldn’t take the risk,” Cantwell told KIRO 7 in January. Graham Johnson reports.
http://www.kiro7.com/news/are-canadians-prepared-to-handle-oil-spills/135104793
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