TAKE ACTION - Ministers, You Need to Get BP Out of Canada's Marine Refuge

In June of this year, the offshore petroleum board for Newfoundland and Labrador issued a "fire sale" Call for Bids for 4 million hectares of ocean space off Newfoundland.

Oil companies wanting to bid were reassured that, thanks to Canada’s attempts at deregulation, they would not even have to bother with an environmental impact assessment before drilling. A loophole created by the Minister of Environment and Climate Change a mere seven days earlier had relieved them of this duty.

Last month, we found out that thankfully only one company responded – but then we took a closer look. The bidder was British Petroleum (BP), the company responsible for the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a disaster that occurred while exploratory drilling was being attempted. And the 264,500 hectare area they bid on overlaps with a marine refuge on one side and extends beyond the 200 mile limit on the other. Both factors should give Canada’s government pause.

Following the Deepwater Horizon disaster, experts pointed to BP and its contractor’s lack of effective risk management - and poor regulation on the part of the government - as key factors for creating the conditions under which the disaster occurred.

We see the very same risks being taken here in Canada on the part of our government right now - the only difference being drilling will take place within a marine refuge, an area recognized as significant habitat for deep sea coral and sponges, and in the even more dangerous and remote North Atlantic waters.

Federal deregulation would put the approval of BP's project on warp speed and limit public participation in evaluating the risk to the environment and biodiversity. Along with WWF and Ecology Action Centre and represented by Ecojustice, we are fighting in court Canada's attempts at deregulation for exploratory drilling off Newfoundland. That case is still ongoing, and our legal arguments have not even been presented in court.

But even still, the oil industry, abetted by leadership in Newfoundland and the federal government, wants to keep pushing recklessly ahead.

As the hopes of a revival of Newfoundland’s offshore oil and gas sector dwindle, our worst fear would be that desperation and deregulation could lead to a massive blowout in the North Atlantic – a spill that our experts tell us we have no way to stop for weeks, even months.

The impacts of a massive spill on vital fishing areas and marine life - as well as Canada's international reputation - would be catastrophic. Continuing full speed ahead on fossil fuel extraction when we need to be reducing GHG emissions and supporting a shift for workers and families affected is also a huge mistake.

But we can speak up - and demand the Ministers of Fisheries and Oceans, Natural Resources and Environment and Climate Change stop BP’s plan to drill in a marine refuge.

Please write the Ministers to demand they reject BP's plans to drill.

Thank You,

Gretchen Fitzgerald - National Programs Director

Take Action - Get BP Out of Canada's Marine Refuge

To: The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Environment and Climate Change Minister, The Honourable Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, The Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Minister of Natural Resources *

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The Honourable Jonathan Wilkinson, Environment and Climate Change Minister, The Honourable Bernadette Jordan, Minister of Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, The Honourable Seamus O’Regan, Minister of Natural Resources
 
Dear Ministers Wilkinson, O’Regan and Jordan,

I am writing to ask that you reject BP’s plans for exploratory drilling in the Northeast Newfoundland Slope Closure. I am deeply distressed that oil drilling and seismic blasting could be allowed in marine refuges such as the Northeast Newfoundland Slope Closure, areas we have promised to protect and conserve, and have designated as off-limits to fishing that impacts the seafloor.

Given our dual commitments to combat climate change and protect biodiversity, Canada needs to do better. Just this week, Canada pledged to sustainable management of all of its oceans by 2025, by joining the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy. Allowing BP to drill in an area that saddles a marine refuge and international waters is directly contrary to this commitment.

In designating the deep-sea coral and sponge habitats of the North East Newfoundland Slope Closure area, the government committed to disallow activities that could impact the ecological components that make it so special. And the risks in this case are not small: please remember that the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico occurred while exploratory drilling was being attempted. Oil drilling that places the area at risk of spills, coats the ocean floor with drilling cuttings, results in chronic, toxic noise pollution, and which may be preceded by seismic blasting, clearly violates this stated conservation commitment.

Removing all protection from the refuge to satisfy BP would create a cookie-cutter park with diminished biological integrity and would demonstrate a lack of resolve to achieve ocean protection targets in the face of industry pressure.

Moreover, regulations regarding the environmental impact assessment of exploratory drilling are currently being called into question through a legal action brought by Sierra Club Canada Foundation, Ecology Action Centre, and WWF, represented by Ecojustice. Allowing BP to begin exploratory drilling while this regulation remains in question is simply unacceptable.

As we rebuild our society post-COVID-19, we need to be ramping down our reliance on fossil fuels and supporting those affected by this shift, not further hastening fossil fuel development.

Please reject BP's plans for exploratory drilling off Newfoundland, commit to real protections for Canada's marine refuges, and reverse moves to deregulate offshore oil and gas drilling off Canada's East Coast.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

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