With Kinder Morgan’s proposed pipeline expansion, Vancouver’s harbor will see seven-times its current tanker traffic.

City Councilor Andrea Reimer says council was taken by surprise by the numbers—and they’re not happy about the increase.

She says they're looking at bringing back a bylaw making sure companies are responsible for the cost of a potential spill. 

"We see that cost as not just being the cleanup cost, but a lot of our economy depends on industries like tourism that would be greatly damaged by the kind of reputational hit that Vancouver would take form a significant oil or diluted bitumen spill."

Under the proposal, tanker traffic would increase from the present five tankers a month to thirty-four.

Reimer says with Federal cuts to the Coast Guard, who are already limited in their ability to respond to a spill, the risk is just too high.

She was speaking with CKNW’s Sean Leslie on the World Today Weekend.