Document ID: ./input/supremecourt_opinions/opinions/boundvolumes/529bv.pdf
Page Number: 170.0

529US1

Unit: $U35

[09-26-01 09:32:43] PAGES PGT: OPIN

Cite as: 529 U. S. 89 (2000)

95

Opinion of the Court

I

The State of Washington embraces some of the Nation’s
most signiﬁcant waters and coastal regions.
Its Paciﬁc
Ocean seacoast consists, in large part, of wave-exposed rocky
headlands separated by stretches of beach. Washington
borders as well on the Columbia River estuary, dividing
Washington from Oregon. Two other large estuaries, Grays
Harbor and Willapa Bay, are also within Washington’s wa-
ters. Of special signiﬁcance in these cases is the inland sea
of Puget Sound, a 2,500 square mile body of water consisting
of inlets, bays, and channels. More than 200 islands are lo-
cated within the sound, and it sustains ﬁsheries and plant
and animal life of immense value to the Nation and to the
world.

Passage from the Paciﬁc Ocean to the quieter Puget Sound
is through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a channel 12 miles
wide and 65 miles long which divides Washington from the
Canadian Province of British Columbia. The international
boundary is located midchannel. Access to Vancouver, Can-
ada’s largest port, is through the strait. Trafﬁc inbound
from the Paciﬁc Ocean, whether destined to ports in the
United States or Canada, is routed through Washington’s
waters; outbound trafﬁc, whether from a port in Washington
or Vancouver, is directed through Canadian waters. The
pattern had its formal adoption in a 1979 agreement entered
into by the United States and Canada. Agreement for a Co-
operative Vessel Trafﬁc Management System for the Juan de
Fuca Region, 32 U. S. T. 377, T. I. A. S. No. 9706.

In addition to holding some of our vital waters, Washing-
ton is the site of major installations for the Nation’s oil indus-
try and the destination or shipping point for huge volumes
of oil and its end products. Reﬁneries and product termi-
nals are located adjacent to Puget Sound in ports including
Cherry Point, Ferndale, Tacoma, and Anacortes. Canadian
reﬁneries are found near Vancouver on Burrard Inlet and
the lower Fraser River. Crude oil is transported by sea to