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-----Original Message-----
From: Sierra Club of Canada [mailto:info@sierraclub.ca]
Large oil spill off Newfoundland - where is the information?
In Brief:
At least 170,000 litres of crude oil were spilled on 21 November off Terra Nova
oil platform offshore of Newfoundland. On 25 November, a second spill of 400
litres of crude oil from the nearby Henry Goodridge drill rig occurred. The
area of the spill on the edge of the Grand Banks contains globally significant
wintering populations of seabirds, with millions coming there annually, and
particularly high numbers in November and December. It is also an important
area for fish and marine mammals. One drop of oil on its feathers can kill a
seabird in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. Attempts to measure the
effect of oil on the environment have been minimal. Independent observers have
never been allowed on board Hibernia or Terra Nova offshore oil platforms.
Petro-Canada does not know by a factor of 4 or 5 how much oil they spilled.
How can we put any confidence in their casual bird observations at platforms,
if we can't even get reliable estimates of oil spilled?
The Government of Canada must immediately:
- provide accurate, detailed information regarding the extent of the spill, in
daily press releases;
- take action to clean up the spill;
- develop protocols to quantify seabird mortality and collect dead birds;
- quantify the spill's impacts on the environment, particularly seabird
mortality in the immediate spill area;
- put independent observers on platforms and vessels in the immediate spill
area;
- require as a condition of operation independent observers on the Terra Nova
and Hibernia offshore oil platforms, as well as others that will be developed;
- step up systematic observations for oiled birds along the eastern Newfoundland
coast;
- reinstate independent offshore support vessel seabird and marine mammal
surveys on the Grand Banks;
- set up a rapid response team and protocols to get scientists to spill scenes
immediately after a spill occurs and begin data collection promptly.
Take Immediate Action:
1. Call into your local radio or CBC radio station (particularly during call-in
shows) and raise this issue and the above recommendations
2. Write a letter to the editors of local and national newspapers raising the
issue and making the above recommendations
3. E-mail, write (no postage necessary), fax or phone the Minister of the
Environment, the Minister of Natural Resources and your local Member of
Parliament and make the above recommendations
The Hon. R. John Efford, Minister of Natural Resources
House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 992-4133 / Fax: (613) 992-7277 / Efford.J@parl.gc.ca
The Hon. Stéphane Dion, Minister of the Environment
House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 996-5789 / Fax: (613) 996-6562 / Dion.S@parl.gc.ca
4. Send this message widely and ask others to do the same
Details:
On 21 November 2004 a Petro-Canada press release reported a spill of 220 to 250
barrels of crude oil off of Terra Nova oil platform, offshore of Newfoundland.
About 2 hours later, with no new information and no presence on site, a CNOPB
(Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board) press release reported "some 200
barrels" spilled, i.e. down-grading the spill by 10-20 %. About 12 hours later,
after some surveillance, a Petro-Canada press release reported 1000 barrels or
160,000 litres spilled. Petro-Canada has since referred to 170,000 litres
being spilled. Minister of Natural Resources John Efford made a statement soon
after the initial Petro-Canada press release that the spill is not a problem.
Government departments have apparently been told that the CNOPB will be the
official mouthpiece for the government. The CNOPB is a hybrid organization
largely controlled by the oil companies (e.g. Petro-Canada), yet is the body
that is charged with regulating the oil industry.
Seabird concentrations around offshore oil platforms are high relative to
adjacent areas. This is because the artificial lights and flares of the
platforms attract the birds; the release of waste water and the role of the
platform as an artificial reef lead to increased prey concentrations; and
platforms provide a place where birds can roost. The area around Terra Nova
and Hibernia offshore oil platforms in the Grand Banks contains globally
significant wintering populations of seabirds, with tens of millions coming
there annually. Particularly high numbers are present in November and
December.
A few drops of oil on its feathers can kill a seabird in the icy waters of the
North Atlantic - the oil glues the feathers to the skin, the bird is no longer
able to regulate its body temperature and freezes to death slowly over a period
of many days. Heavily-oiled birds sink after a predictable length of time.
Government funding for offshore support vessel surveys by university researchers
has not been continued, following the results of completed surveys indicating
that monitoring of wildlife at offshore oil platforms in eastern Canada is
inadequate. Well-trained and dedicated arm's length observers are required to
document seabird mortality associated with offshore oil platforms in eastern
Canada, and hence to form a credible basis for effective mitigation of this
mortality. The current system is essentially one of very minimal and dubious
self-reporting.
Independent observers have never been allowed by the CNOPB on board the Hibernia
or Terra Nova platforms. Independent observers are required on fishery
vessels, because it is recognized that self-reporting is the weakest -
essentially ineffective - form of regulation. Had independent observers been
on platforms, we might at least know which birds were in the vicinity of the
Terra Nova platform before the spill. Instead, there is no information.
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