Newfoundland Research
There are many different types of research being conducted in the offshore sector. See the Environmental Studies Research Fund, funded by the oil and gas sector, for a list of current and past research conducted on offshore oil and gas in Canada.
In addition to this industry-funded research, there are many more research projects on the environmental impacts of the oil and gas industry in the province, on two notable themes: the risk of tankers and impacts on seabirds.
Tanker spills – A major obvious concern is the risk of larger spills associated with oil offloading and transportation. The Brander-Smith report, Canada’s policy response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, identified Placentia Bay as the area most at risk for an oil spill in Canada given the tanker traffic to and from the transshipment terminal servicing the offshore oil industry: “The risk of spills is highest in eastern Canada, particularly in Newfoundland,” the report notes. Specifically, “Placentia Bay is considered by many to be the most likely place in Canada for a major spill” (Brander-Smith et al. 1990: i). Traffic has increased dramatically since the publication of this report in 1990, hence Transport Canada’s new “Environmental Oil Spill Risk Assessment Project – Newfoundland” report. An additional evaluation is provided in a Master of Environmental Science Thesis by Memorial University student Hena Alam (2009), “Environmental and economic impacts of oil spills in Placentia Bay.”
Seabirds - Approximately 40 million marine birds depend on the rich, productive waters of Grand Banks off insular Newfoundland each year. Many species, particularly alcids (murres, puffins, dovekies) are extremely vulnerable to very small quantities of oil pollution, potentially even legal discharges of produced water (Fraser, Russell, von Zharen 2006) and drilling fluids (O’Hara and Moradin 2010) can kill a diving bird in the cold NW Atlantic waters (see Wiese & Ryan 2003, Burke et al. 2005). It is important to emphasize that there are significant gaps in the understanding of the impacts of oil and gas operations on seabird populations in NL, some of which were first identified in 1985 from Hibernia’s environmental assessment. One gap in particular is the understanding of the impact of lights and flares on seabirds emitted from exploratory and production platforms (see Fraser 2014).
Source: Fraser 2010. Comments to Hebron Environmental Assessment. PDF.
Dr. William Montevecchi, Memorial University of Newfoundland, and his team are conducting research on the interactions of seabirds and offshore oil and gas platforms.
Dr. Ian Jones, Memorial University of Newfoundland, provides a critical perspective on the evaluation of the impacts of oil spills on seabirds from two different offshore platforms, the Terra Nova and the White Rose.
Dr. Patrick O’Hara, Canadian Wildlife Service, conducted research on the impact of drilling fluid sheens on seabird feather structure. This is a significant piece of research as it suggests that legal discharges of drilling fluids may compromise seabird thermoregulatory capabilities; birds highly vulnerable to oil pollution may die due to hypothermia if exposed to these pollutants.
Dr. Gail Fraser, in collaboration with colleagues from the Alder Institute, has on-going research on linking environmental assessments (EA) for oil development and production to EA follow-up, the post-EA step critical for verification of the predicted impacts. For example, see Fraser & Ellis 2008.
Other Research
Cadigan, S.T., 2012. Boom, Bust, and Bluster: Newfoundland and Labrador's Oil Boom and its Impacts on Labour, in: Peters, J. (Ed.), Boom, Bust, and Crisis: Canadian Labour in 21st Century Canada Fernwood, pp. 68-83.
EnviroEconomics Inc., Sawyer, D., Stiebert, S., 2010. Fossil Fuels – At What Cost?: Government Support for Upstream Oil Activities in Three Canadian Provinces: Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Global Subsidies Initiative and International Institute for Sustainable Development, Geneva.
James, Michael C., Scott A. Sherrill-Mix, Kathleen Martin, and Ransom A. Myers. 2006. "Canadian Waters Provide Critical Foraging Habitat for Leatherback Sea Turtles." Biological Conservation no. 133:347-57.
Office of the Auditor General of Canada, 2012. Chapter 1: Atlantic Offshore Oil and Gas Activities, Report of the Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development. http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/internet/English/parl_cesd_201212_e_37708.html
Shrimpton, M., 2015. Socio-Economic Benefits From Petroleum Industry Activity in Newfoundland and Labrador: 2011-2013. Petroleum Research Atlantic Canada.
Turner, M., J. Skinner, J. Roberts, R. Harvey, and S.L Ross Environmental Research Ltd. 2010. Review of Offshore Oil-spill Prevention and Remediation Requirements and Practices in Newfoundland and Labrador. St. John's: Department of Natural Resources, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
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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.
