British Columbia Research
A considerable amount of scientific research has been conducted on the oil and gas industry in BC, with a particular focus on marine ecosystem management and protected species. This research has been conducted by many actors, including government, industry, academia, and non-governmental organizations. Recently, the province’s emergency management capacity has come under federal critique by the Office of the Auditor General, in their 2010 report Oil Spills from Ships. Additionally, the lack of baseline data in British Columbia has been critiqued by several reports including the Royal Society’s 2004 Report of the Expert Panel on Science Issues Related to Oil and Gas Activities. In fact, British Columbia’s most recent Energy Plan ascertains that increasing baseline data collection is one of the goals of the Oil and Gas Environmental Stewardship Program (2009, 31).
Several academic scientists have also highlighted the lack of data on protected species in BC and how they might be impacted by increased oil and gas development. For example, Harris et al. (2011a) argue that protected sea otters may be at a high risk from petrogenic hydrocarbons, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), due to biomagnification. Similarly, Harris et al. (2011b) suggest that sea otters are at a high risk to PAH sediment contamination, even in the absence of a large oil spill, suggesting that the current PAH sediment quality guidelines may be inadequate. There is also a paucity of data for how intensification of offshore oil and gas may impact cetaceans (e.g., blue, sei, fin, and orca whales) which are listed under the Species at Risk Act (Environment Canada 2004, Government of Canada 2008, Fraser in press). In general, the lack of data on distribution and abundance of marine wildlife significantly hinder the capacity to predict impacts of oil and gas operations on marine wildlife populations which are of conservation concern (Fraser 2015).
Terrestrially, there is also research on the impacts of oil and gas development on Boreal Caribou which are listed as threatened under the Species at Risk Act (Ministry of Environment 2010). The Ministry of Environment’s 2010 science update on Boreal Caribou in Northeastern BC identifies oil and gas exploration and development as the most significant industrial activity impacting Boreal Caribou indirectly due to linear corridor development, including seismic line clearing, pipelines, and roads (25). Linear corridors affect Boreal Caribou through habitat alteration and displacement from preferred habitat (25) and a higher incidence of predation resulting from easier predator access (particularly Grey Wolves) into Boreal Caribou habitat (26). Sorensen et al., in their analysis of levels of cumulative effects that would sustain boreal caribou populations in Alberta, determine that Boreal Caribou populations will remain sustainable at a maximum of 61% disturbance of their range within 250 m of industrial development (904). This threshold was employed by the BC Ministry of Environment to determine that three out of four Caribou ranges in BC have greater than 61% disturbance (Ministry of Environment 2009, 20). Furthermore, research on caribou in Alberta and Alaska highlights that the extent that caribou avoid linear corridors exceeds the physical footprint of an oil-field and therefore examining the sum of industrial activities will underestimate its effect on caribou (Sorensen et al 2008, 904; see also James and Stuart-Smith 2000; Nellemann and Cameron 1998). Further research is required to determine whether similar impacts are affecting caribou ranges in BC—particularly in the Horn River Basin planning area where shale mining occurs entirely within boreal caribou range (Ministry of Environment 2009, 23).
Following the Western Interprovincial Scientific Studies Association (WISSA) project examining the impacts of oil and gas air emissions on cattle in Alberta, scientists have begun to monitor air quality in north eastern BC as well. Recent literature suggests that common air contaminants (CACs) such as volatile organic compounds, exist at a much higher level than documented, as many upstream oil and gas activities are exempt from air emissions reporting (Krzyzanowski 2009, 436). Other studies have determined that the upstream oil and gas industry was the source of more than half of CAC emissions in north eastern BC and Alberta (Burstyn et al. 2007a; Burstyn et al. 2007b).
Assessing the cumulative impacts of forestry, mining and tourism, in addition to oil and gas development, in northeastern BC is also a research focus. Current identified cumulative impacts include a reduction in habitat, augmented water temperatures which influence fish distribution, and increased fragmentation (Nitschke 2008; Strimbu and Innes 2011; Murray and Innes 2008).
There are several collaborative research projects in BC concerning oil and gas development. The BC Climate Justice Project, a partnership between the University of British Columbia and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, published several reports on the environmental and socio-economic impacts of unconventional mining in BC, including Peddling GHGs, and Fracking Up Our Water, Hydro Power and Climate. The Energy and Minerals Project, a collaboration between the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources (MEMPR) and the University of Victoria, funds geological research into the oil and gas potential in BC. The MEMPR has also partnered with Geoscience BC to fund the Horn River Basin Aquifer Project, which identifies aquifers capable of supplying water to support fracking operations in northeastern BC. Past partnerships include the Northern Coastal Information & Research Program (NCIRP), a research program run out of UNBC and funded by MEMPR to examine the potential environmental and socio-economic impacts of offshore oil and gas development in BC (project concluded in 2005).
Many ENGOs have or are conducting research on the environmental impacts of oil and gas development in BC, including the Pembina Institute, the Wilderness Committee, and West Coast Environmental Law.
References
Burstyn, I., Senthilselvan, A., Kim, H.M., and Cherry, N. M. (2007a). Industrial Sources Influence Air Concentrations of Hydrogen Sulfide and Sulfur Dioxide in Rural Areas of Western Canada. Journal of Air and Waste Management, 57, 1241-1250. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3155/1047-3289.57.10.1241
Burstyn, I., You, X., Cherry, N., and Senthilselvan, A. (2007b). Determinants of airborne benzene concentrations in rural areas of western Canada. Atmospheric Environment, 41, 7778-7787. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231007005663
Fraser, G.S. 2015. Offshore oil and gas development impacts on marine wildlife resources. In: Economics, peak oil and wildlife conservation (Eds, J.E. Gates, D.L. Trauger, B. Czech). Springer.
Harris, K. A., Nichol, L.M., Ross, and P.S. (2011a). Hydrocarbon concentrations and patterns in free-ranging sea otters (Enhydra lutris) from British Colombia, Canada. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 30(10), 2184-2193. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/etc.627/abstract
Harris, K. A., Yunker, M. B., Dangerfield, N., and Ross, P.S. (2011b). Sediment-associated aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in coastal British Columbia, Canada: Concentrations, composition, and associated risks to protected sea otters. Environmental Pollution, 159(10), 2665-2674. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749111003204
James, A.R.C. and A.K. Stuart Smith. 2000. Distribution of caribou and wolves in relation to linear corridors. J. Wildl. Manage. 64:154–159. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/3802985?uid=3739448&uid=2&uid=3737720&uid=4&sid=56074177283
Kryzanowski, J. (2009). The Importance of Policy in Emissions Inventory Accuracy: A Lesson from British Columbia, Canada. Journal of Air and Waste Management, 59, 430-439. Retrieved from http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.3155/1047-3289.59.4.430
Murray, S. and Innes, J. L. (2008). Effects of environment on fish species distributions in the Mackenzie River drainage basin of northeastern British Columbia, Canada. Ecology of Freshwater Fish, 18, 183-196. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1600-0633.2008.00336.x/abstract
Nellemann, C. and R.D. Cameron. 1998. Cumulative impacts of an evolving oil-field complex on the distribution of calving caribou. Can. J. Zool. 76:1425–1430. Retrieved from http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/abs/10.1139/z98-078
Nitschke, Craig R. (2008). The cumulative effects of resource development on biodiversity and ecological integrity in the Peace-Moberly region of Northeast British Columbia, Canada. Biodiversity Conservation, 17, 1715-1740. Retrieved from http://www.springerlink.com/content/r24428l47153671j/
Sorenson, T., P.D. McLoughlin, D. Hervieux, E. Dzus, J. Nolan., B. Wynes, and S. Boutin. 2008. Determining sustainable levels of cumulative effects for Boreal Caribou. J. Wildl. Manage. 72:900–905. Retrieved from http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.2193/2007-079
Strimbu, B., and Innes, J. (2011). An analytical platform for cumulative impact assessment based on multiple futures: the impact of petroleum drilling and forest harvesting on moose (Alces alces) and marten (Martes americana) habitats in northeastern British Columbia. Journal of Environmental Management, 92, 1740-1752. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479711000466
Thiessen, C. 2009. Peace Region Boreal Caribou monitoring: annual report 2008–09. B.C. Min. Environ., Fort St. John, BC. Peace Region Technical Report. Retrieved from http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/wld/speciesconservation/bc/index.html#additional_resource
Additional Information
BC Energy Plan. Oil and Gas Policies
http://www.energyplan.gov.bc.ca/PDF/BC_Energy_Plan_Oil_and_Gas.pdf
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The content for this province was peer-reviewed in Oct 2013. We’d like to acknowledge the assistance of the external reviewers and Leanne Ross, Annette Angel and Amanda Chrisanthus who contributed to this webpage content.
