The Conservation Council’s Executive Director, Lois Corbett, and former Fundy Baykeeper, Dave Thompson, were quoted in a Reuters article examining oil spills and regulatory warnings involving the Irving Oil refinery and terminal facility in Saint John.
Using documents obtained by a Right to Information request, Reuters, an international news agency, determined Irving Oil has logged at least 19 accidents classified as ‘environmental emergencies’ at its facilities in Eastern Canada since 2012. In three cases, the family-owned company drew regulatory warnings for delayed reporting.
Given the mixed environmental and regulatory record of Irving Oil, the article questioned the impact the proposed Energy East pipeline – a proposal to ship up to 1.1-million barrels per day of bitumen from the tar sands to an export terminal that would be built and operated by Irving Oil – would have on the residents and commercial enterprises of the Bay of Fundy.
Lois Corbett told Reuters “all eyes are switching to the Bay of Fundy” now that TransCanada cancelled its plans to build an export terminal in Cacouna, Que., due to a nearby endangered beluga whale nursery.
Aside from an important piece of New Brunswick’s economy in both fishing and tourism, Corbett noted the Bay of Fundy serves as the summer feeding ground for the Atlantic Right whale, one of the top 10 most endangered whales on the planet.
Dave Thompson, former Fundy Baykeeper with the Conservation Council, told Reuters an spill in the Bay of Fundy presents unique and daunting clean-up challenges.
The often fog-shrouded Bay of Fundy, with the world’s largest tides and swirling currents, poses unique challenges, said Dave Thompson, who formerly investigated incidents and was a Bay of Fundy Baykeeper, a role within the Conservation Council.
“If you think you’re going to clean up an oil spill in the Bay of Fundy, you better hope it happens in the morning on a summer day that’s not foggy when there’s no current,” said Thompson. “Otherwise, good luck.”
The article was published on April 22, 2015 in the Globe and Mail, Business Insider, and Business News Network.