Resilient Coast : Liquid Fuel Delivery to British Columbia Coastal Communities

Coastal and island communities in British Columbia (BC) are highly dependent on maritime transportation to support their basic needs, such as fuel deliveries. Historically, coastal communities maintained substantial local caches of supplies; however, with the advance of integrated supply chains and more frequent scheduled maritime service, just-in-time delivery has become the norm for providers such as supermarket chains, acute healthcare facilities, and fuel suppliers. Thus, coastal communities will experience shortages of critical supplies any time regular maritime service is disrupted beyond the level that can be met using local caches. In a disruption, fuel is a critical commodity that is required not only by the public in general, but also for emergency response vehicles and facilities. Emergency management and planning for community resilience to disruptions therefore requires an understanding of how fuel is supplied and flows in the region. The region has had comparatively little direct experience with fuel supply chain disruptions and shortages. Publicly available information on the fuel system in BC is highly fragmented, inconsistent, and incomplete, thus posing a critical information gap for emergency planning.Applied Science, Faculty ofScience, Faculty ofCivil Engineering, Department ofCommunity and Regional Planning (SCARP), School ofResources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute forUnreviewedFacultyGraduat