Newfoundland Key Environmental Conflicts
Disclosure and the Atlantic Accord Act – Section 119a of the Canada-Newfoundland Atlantic Accord Implementation Act gives oil and gas operators the choice of public disclosure, even for pollutants discharged into public waters. Fraser and Ellis provide a summary of this issue (contact Fraser for PDF).
Environmental Effects Monitoring – Curran et al. argue that Environment Canada should be the lead for overseeing offshore oil and gas environmental effects monitoring programs which provide verification and compliance data for environmental assessments.
The Old Harry Well and Fishing Communities in the Gulf of St. Lawrence – The Old Harry well lies right along the provincial contested boundary of Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador in the middle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and may have up to 1.5 billion barrels of oil. The St. Lawrence Coalition is calling for a moratorium to oil and gas exploration and production in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Linking Safety with Environmental Protection – On March 12, 2009, 17 offshore workers died in a helicopter crash. A subsequent inquiry by the Honorable Robert Wells provided a series of recommendations to improve safety for offshore oil and gas workers in Newfoundland and Labrador. A key recommendation (29a) was the establishment of an independent Safety Regulator. Carter and Fraser recommend the establishment of an independent Environmental Authority, along the lines of the proposed independent Safety Authority (contact Fraser for PDF). The Wells report also includes excellent reflections on the implications of a goal-oriented regulatory regime for drilling and production for the C-NLOPB.
Oil Spills Which Result in Fines – Ships must adhere to regulations on the discharges of oil in bilge or risk steep fines. Offshore oil and gas operations which result in chronic oil pollution from many small spills are not fined for every spill. Many of the most abundant seabird species which occupy the Grand Banks are at high risk due to oil pollution; small amounts of oil have the potential to kill large numbers of birds (see Burger). The discrepancy in spills which result in fines is an on-going conflict. In addition, it is questionable if the size of the fines is an effective deterrent given the highly valuable resource being extracted.
Limited Protected Areas – In contrast to Nova Scotia, there are few protected areas and no regional plans to guide land leasing (Community Resource Services Ltd. 2003). To date in NL, only two small areas have been set aside for protection: Gilbert Bay, an area less than fifty square kilometers off the southeast coast of Labrador, and Eastport Peninsula in Bonavista Bay (Department of Fisheries and Oceans).
Greenhouse Gas Emissions – Air pollution is slowly becoming one of the primary concerns regarding waste discharges in the offshore, with emphasis on greenhouse gases (GHG) given the current debates on climate change. According to Environment Canada’s “National Inventory Report, 1990-2006,” fugitive sources from oil and natural gas and fossil fuel production have accounted for the highest emissions over this period (Environment Canada 2008: 5, 514-516, 543). NL is not able to meet its climate change targets to reduce GHGs to 1990 levels by 2010, as committed to in the “New England Governors/Eastern Canadian Premiers Climate Action Plan” With regard to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions, the provincial government has indicated in a public discussion document on climate change that emissions from oil development explain the province’s increasing GHG emissions. Public policy submissions in response to this document were submitted by the Environmental Policy Institute at Grenfell Campus, Memorial University and Sierra Club of Canada, Atlantic Chapter. These submissions acknowledged the significant emissions from oil infrastructure and recommend better regulation as well as a transition from an oil economy to a renewable, environmentally sound provincial energy system ().
Unrestricted Carbon Emissions – There are no regulations for emissions offshore in place. Operators must only report estimated annual emissions (National Energy Board, et al 2002: section 2.2)to the federal National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI) amongst other reporting agencies.
Unclear Decommissioning Requirements – To date, decommissioning standards in offshore NL are largely undefined and awaiting technology and standards to be established at the time of site abandonment.
Weak Monitoring – In offshore NL, where oil development occurs in a remote and harsh location, monitoring and compliance activities are strained. Regarding on-site monitoring, operators self-monitor and self-report via part-time monitors who are not trained biologists. The public and scientists have long documented the need for on-site, independent, trained, full-time monitors (Burke et al. 2012, Natural History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador 1997: 182).
Hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) – Companies operating along the west coast of Newfoundland have expressed interest in using fracking in onshore and offshore exploration. However, due to significant public concern about the environmental impacts of this technique (represented in the NL-FAN), the provincial government enacted a temporary moratorium. At the time of this writing, a public consultation process was ongoing to determine if the practice should be approved or banned.
Non-linked References
Natural History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador. 1997. Review of the Terra Nova Development Project Environmental Impact Statement. St. John’s.
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The content for this province was peer-reviewed in December Oct 2013. We’d like to acknowledge the assistance of the external reviewers.
