The Conservation Council’s Fundy Baykeeper appeared in dozens of media outlets responding to TransCanada’s amended Energy East application that doubles the amount of tanker traffic related to the bitumen pipeline project in the Bay of Fundy and along the US east coast.
Matt Abbott told CBC New Brunswick that the changes will significantly increase the risk of a tar sands bitumen spill in the Bay of Fundy, putting the estimated 5,000 people working in fisheries on the New Brunswick side at risk, which doesn’t include those working in tourism.
In addition to the risk of an expensive and potentially devastating bitumen spill, Abbott said the changes will increase the amount of noise from tanker traffic in the bay, impacting the various species of whales in the bay, including the endangered North Atlantic Right whale.
Abbott said we know right whales are already stressed from current levels of traffic, and that right whales communicate on the same frequency as that emitted by tanker traffic. Research has shown that current levels of noise from tanker traffic in the Bay of Fundy means whales have to effectively shout at one another to be heard at times. He said not enough research has been done to tell us how much noise from traffic can be in the bay before it has a significant negative impact on whale populations.
Abbott was also quotes in Bloomberg News, saying, “TransCanada’s new application puts much of the burden of what would be North America’s longest oil pipeline on New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Maine.”
Abbott told the New Brunswick Telegraph-Journal that the changes place more risk on the wildlife in the Bay of Fundy, including the eight species of whales that frequent the bay, as well as threatening the iconic natural area of the international tourism destination and the jobs associated with fisheries and tourism relied upon by coastal residents.
The Fundy Baykeeper was also quoted in Canadian Press coverage that was picked up by dozens of news outlets across Canada and the U.S.
Learn more about TransCanada’s proposed Energy East bitumen pipeline project and what it means for the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine.