The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, Sept. 15, edition that Ottawa's promises to enhance marine protections by expanding the Western Canada Marine Response Corp. (WCMRC), are in limbo after a court quashed the Trans Mountain project's environmental permits. The Globe's Justine Hunter writes that the WCMRC handles spill response in British Columbia waters. Washington State legislators have long complained that Canada is a laggard in addressing the need to protect against oil spills in the shared waters of the Salish Sea. Washington State shoulders the cost of the region's only emergency response tug. State senator Reuven Carlyle said both jurisdictions need to work together to close gaps in response capacity and address increasing traffic and the possibility of spills. Mr. Carlyle says, "The research, the data, the science, is unequivocal that the risks are escalating exponentially, and Canada's response is not commensurate to that risk." He says Ottawa's insistence on holding back needed investments in spill response is unsettling to Washingtonians. The Trans Mountain expansion would increase the number of tankers carrying crude oil that travel through these waters from 44 last year to 408.