VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - Imagine the coastline of Stanley Park covered in thick, black oil. That's what a report by the Wilderness Committee looks at ahead of a huge increase to oil-tanker traffic off our coast.
 
The report shows how a spill would devastate the crown jewel of Vancouver and the thousands of birds and animals that call Stanley Park home.

Ben West speaks for the Wilderness Committee and says the impact of oil in our waters would be far-reaching and long-lasting.

"In terms of the affect of the ability of the park to maintain the life of some of the smaller life forms that are then eaten by things like salmon, that are then eaten by things like seals and whales and other things in the Straight of Georgia."

West says they found the heavy bitumen that would be transported by the extra tankers was especially toxic to make it possible to push it through the kilometres of pipe.

"The Kalamazoo River spill is a case study in what happens when you've got that kind of a spill. People describe it as a rancid, rotten egg kind of smell. Which of course for anyone walking along the beach of Stanley Park and smelling something like that would push you far, far away from the coast for months, if not years to come."

West adds the heavy oil sinks to the bottom of ocean, seeping into the ground and working its way through the entire eco-system.

Kinder Morgan is proposing a pipeline expansion to its Burrard Inlet terminal, increasing the output from 300,000 barrels a day to 750,000 barrels.

Photo: Stanley Park seawall