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Coast Guard plugs Arctic oils spill tests, pulls application Imperial Oil and ExxonMobil support Indigenous women leaders BP breaks ground on controversial BC Rockies project as oil gushes in Gulf Inuit group asks Nunavut for hearings on seismic tests in planned reserve Coast Guard plugs Arctic oils spill tests, pulls application By Bob Weber The federal government has quietly pulled the plug on controversial oilspill cleanup tests in the Arctic that would have dumped as much as 1,200 litres of crude into Lancaster Sound. The Department of Fisheries and Oceans has withdrawn its application for the tests in a letter to Nunavut’s environmental regulator. “I was unable to conduct our planned community consultation meeting,” writes department scientist Ken Lee in the letter. “Furthermore, we have not had time to obtain all the necessary permit approvals for the conduct of our planned study.” Lee and his fellow researchers had planned a controlled release of oil from a Coast Guard vessel in the same area being considered for a national marine park because of its dramatic coastline and wildlife-rich waters – home to the majority of the world’s narwhal. Inuit groups said nobody told them about the tests and expressed concern in light of other plans to explore for energy resources in the sound this summer. They wondered why Ottawa was planning to protect the area on one hand and talking about energy development and cleanup on the other. They also pointed to the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. Lee blames the BP rig blowout in the gulf for not being able to consult adequately with local communities. Too many of his staff are down south helping with that cleanup, he said. “My research group responded to a request from U.S. agencies to provide scientific support for spill response operations which are still ongoing.” Lee says he will try again to run the tests. “My plan is to resubmit our application at a later date following community consultation on the design of our study as planned originally.” He has said new methods to clean up oil spills are necessary because more accessibility to the Arctic due to global warming is increasing the risk of such accidents. Current cleanup techniques are of limited use in ice-choked water and new methods have to be tested in real conditions, not in lab simulations or in southern waters, he said. His team wants to test a new way to break up oil slicks into tiny droplets that would disperse more widely and decompose more quickly by using fine clay particles instead of chemicals. Lancaster Sound is likely to be a busy place this summer even without Lee’s project. Natural Resources Canada has received regulatory permission to conduct seismic testing for oil and gas reserves – another plan opposed by the Inuit. As well, the military plans manoeuvres which will see the participation of warships from the U.S. and Denmark. Imperial Oil and ExxonMobil support Indigenous women leaders The Coady International Institute has announced the launch of an innovative national community leadership program for Canadian Indigenous women with a $4 million investment from the Imperial Oil and ExxonMobil Foundations. The goal of the Indigenous Women in Community Leadership (IWCL) program is to engage the next generation of Aboriginal women leaders and provide them with practical leadership skills and experience so that they can promote community development from within. “Women’s leadership is a priority focus of the Coady Institute,” said Mary Coyle, director of the Coady International Institute. “We see this as an exciting opportunity to develop the next generation of Canadian Indigenous women leaders, build networks of support and inspiration, and highlight the work Aboriginal communities are already doing to become self-reliant.” The program will be further dev-eloped in close consultation with Indigenous women leaders and communities and will incorporate mentorships between established and emerging leaders. During the initial phase, the Coady Institute will document examples of successful Aboriginal community development stories across Canada. These stories will provide the basis for the new program’s curriculum, which will begin classes in the spring of 2011. Participants will attend a three-week, campus-based leadership preparation program followed by a three-month community placement. Susan Swan, acting president of the Imperial Oil Foundation, said, “The Coady Institute’s approach fits well with Imperial’s goal to invest in education and build strong communities. We hope this program will have a profound and enduring effect on Aboriginal community development in Canada.” “This program holds enormous promise to help develop local Indigenous women’s capabilities to contribute to broader economic growth,” added Lorie Jackson, director of ExxonMobil’s Women’s Economic Opportunity Initiative. “Coady’s innovative program design builds on a strong foundation of proven curriculum and case studies, and leverages the power of mentoring between established and emerging leaders to support economic and social development in Indigenous communities throughout Canada.” BP breaks ground on controversial BC Rockies project as oil gushes in Gulf As oil continues to gush from a BP wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico, critics say the company has quietly broken ground on a controversial project in B.C.’s Rocky Mountains. Opponents of the Mist Mountain project say they were surprised to find that BP Canada, an arm of the BP group of companies, began construction earlier this month on an exploratory well for its coalbed methane project near Fernie, B.C. The company was granted permission to conduct the experimental drilling in the pristine area in southeast B.C. just a few days after the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill. And the disaster unfolding in the gulf since then has renewed concerns about the BP subsidiary’s plans in the Rockies. “This is just a reaffirmation of what we’ve always known and what everyone has known about BP is that they’ve had the worst environmental record of all oil companies in the world, even before the Gulf disaster,” said Ryland Nelson, of the group Wildsight, which opposes the project. But Hejdi Feick, the director of communications for BP Canada, said British Columbians can be reassured that the company is a good corporate citizen. “We are absolutely committed to doing this right,” she said June 15th. “We have been very open and accessible over the last three years.” That is little comfort for Nelson, who said BP had promised to consult with the public every step of the way yet he only learned construction was underway when he went to the site June 13th. Nelson said the contractor on site told him they hope to bring in drilling equipment by the end of the month and start drilling this summer. “Here they are, they’ve been working for nearly two weeks and nobody knew anything about it,” he said. The provincial government awarded tenure to BP Canada for the Mist Mountain project last December, over the objections of conservationists and First Nations on both sides of the border, as well as the Fernie town council. Those critics say there is not enough environmental oversight for the project, which they believe will impact water and wildlife in the Rocky Mountain ecosystem. The coalbed methane extraction includes reinjecting polluted water back into the ground, a process conservationists worry will contaminate ground water. Feick said the company has been forthcoming with all information, including that it planned to start test drilling this summer. “This is certainly not news to the folks there,” she said. “We’ve already gone as far as inviting some of the key groups to come and tour the site when we are drilling so they can have a sense of what that entails and what it means, what it looks like, that sort of thing.” Critics including Ryland say because BP’s application was for a single well, the company avoided a thorough B.C. Environmental Assessment review, but Feick said the company has done three years of environmental studies and all the reports are available on the company website. Graham Currie, a spokesman for the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission, said the commission did an extensive review of the project and concluded that direct impacts to wildlife habitat, environment and the forest land base would be minimal. Currie said the review is a rigorous environmental assessment, but he couldn’t say how it compared to the B.C. Environmental Review process. He said there was no thought of reviewing BP’s application, given the actions of its parent company surrounding the Gulf of Mexico disaster. “No. We have made an extensive review here, we have granted a well authorization,” he said. “We are satisfied with our process.” Ryland said the project threatens one of the most important wildlife corridors in North America. The well will be drilled in the area between Banff National Park and Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, which stretches between Alberta and Montana, a corridor for grizzlies, wolverines and other mountain-dwelling wildlife. “This special place needs special consideration when considering major developments like this,” he said. Inuit group asks Nunavut for hearings on seismic tests in planned reserve An Inuit land-claim group wants the Nunavut government to push for public hearings and broader consultation on a federal proposal to do offshore oil and gas tests in a planned marine park. “We’re asking (Environment Minister Daniel Shewchuk) to request that the project go for a review before it’s approved,” said Okalik Eegeesiak, president of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association. The Nunavut Impact Review Board had recommended that a proposal from the Geological Survey of Canada be allowed to proceed this summer subject to conditions. That proposal calls for scientists to conduct seismic tests for oil and gas resources in Lancaster and Jones sounds. But Ottawa already agreed last December to negotiations on turning the animal-rich waters of Lancaster Sound into a marine conservation area. The Qikiqtani Inuit want Nunavut to reject the advice from the review board. “That’s like the smoking areas we used to have,” she said. “They’re basically creating a smoking area for our conservation area.” Eegeesiak added that Inuit were never asked about what they thought of the tests until after the program was fully set. “They’re just going in to tell them what they’re doing, which is not enough for us.” Eegeesiak said Inuit have the right to help design programs to minimize impact on wildlife. Previous studies suggest that seismic testing can damage the hearing of aquatic mammals. Lancaster Sound’s cliff-studded coastline is interspersed with bays, inlets and deep fiords. Most of the world’s narwhal, as well as large numbers of beluga and bowhead whales, swim among the icebergs that bob in its waters. Polynyas – large sections of year-round, ice-free water – make rich habitat for seals and walrus, which in turn attract numerous polar bears. Seabirds flock there in the hundreds of thousands. |
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