Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline has more critics.

Conducting what they call an independent study, three engineers – two of them emeritus professors at the University of British Columbia – say the proposed pipeline from the Alberta oilsands to Kittimat, B.C. carries unacceptable risks when it comes to a significant oil tanker spill off the B.C. coast.

According to the Vancouver Sun, their findings conclude spilling unrefined bitumen into the waters of the Pacific Ocean would be too toxic for the pristine B.C. coastline as well as too difficult to clean up.

In statistical terms, the engineers peg the chances of of at least one spill during a 50-year operational period at 22 per cent.  That is much higher than the standards for most high risk infrastructure projects such as buildings designed to withstand earthquakes.