{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://larsen.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4258", "Larsen Statement on Joint U.S.-Canada Oil Spill Response Exercise", "2026-09-15", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "House", "WA", "Rick Larsen", "L000560", "larsen.house.gov", "larsen", "https://larsen.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx", "scraper", "Today, U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02), top Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, released the following statement:\n\n\u201cOn September 2, my staff observed a joint exercise between the U.S. Coast Guard and the Canadian Coast Guard designed to simulate response efforts and coordination between our two countries in the event of an oil spill in shared waters.\n\n\u201cThis type of collaboration across the border between the U.S. and Canada is even more critical because of Canada\u2019s plans to ship more oil in the Salish Sea with the proposed new Alberta to B.C. pipeline.\n\n\u201cI have concerns about the potential impacts of this proposed pipeline, including on tanker traffic in the Salish Sea, and I am glad that my staff could observe the exercise to ensure that there are relationships and procedures in place that benefit both countries in the event of a disastrous spill.\n\n\u201cI will continue to work with federal agencies to ensure their oil spill prevention and response plans account for increased tanker traffic, identify federal actions to reduce the risk of a spill and engage my Canadian Government counterparts on the concerns people I represent have about the pipeline.\u201d\n\nOn September 2, the U.S. Coast Guard and Canadian Coast Guard participated in a joint exercise designed to coordinate oil and hazardous spill responses in shared Pacific waters such as the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Haro Strait, Georgia Straits and Boundary Bay. These exercises occur every other year under the Canada-United States Joint Marine Pollution Contingency Plan.\n\nOn July 2, the Government of Alberta announced a proposed new oil pipeline from Alberta to the Pacific Ocean that would transport 1 million barrels per day to an export terminal at Roberts Banks in British Columbia located just north of the Canada-U.S. border. The new pipeline is anticipated to significantly increase tanker traffic in Haro Strait and Boundary Bay in the Salish Sea, and with it the risks for catastrophic oil spills impacting sensitive marine environments.\n\nLarsen Insists Coast Guard Act to Protect Salish Sea\n\nAfter hearing concerns from people who live in his district about this proposed pipeline, Rep. Larsen has been closely tracking developments on plans for pipeline construction and pressing the Coast Guard on its plans to update its prevention planning through the Canada-United States Joint Marine Pollution Contingency Plan. In late July, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee held a roundtable with officials from the Coast Guard on maritime safety. A video clip of Rep. Larsen asking Coast Guard officials about their awareness of the new Canadian pipeline and how it would implicate existing oil spill prevention plans can be found here, and the recording of the entire roundtable can be found here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-09-16T09:43:13Z", "2026-09-16T09:44:22Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://larsen.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=4258"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.7930537685751915, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}