The National Energy Board has decided to allow tankers to transport an extra 25,000 barrels of oil through Burrard Inlet per day.
The board announced Thursday it had approved an application from Trans Mountain Pipeline, L.P. to increase its daily load.
Ben West of the Wilderness Committee, a group opposed to tanker traffic on the West Coast, says the decision will amount to an extra 10 tankers per year in the inlet.
"For anybody who's concerned about an oil spill or worried about the growth of oil tanker traffic, this is a really big step in the wrong direction," West said.
"They're going to be reducing the amount that's moving through the pipelines and actually increasing the amount that's moving by tanker… and it happened without any democratic process, without the consultation of First Nations."
Seventy-nine tankers passed through inlet last year, according to the committee. Greenpeace has called the number of crude oil tankers passing through Burrard Inlet the "best kept secret in British Columbia."
Opponents of tanker traffic say it's a matter of when, not if a vessel will come aground off the coast and cause an environmental catastrophe. The oil industry insists double-hulled vessels have reduced the risk of a spill.
The NEB is an independent federal regulator responsible for pipelines and energy development.
