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magazine / ja04
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July/August 2004 issue |
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Mixing water and oil
A renewed push to lift a 32-year-old moratorium on British Columbia's offshore oil-and-gas exploration is again pitting the economy against the environment
By Steven Fick and Elizabeth Shilts
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| Click map to enlarge |
Through the 1950s and 1960s, the resource industry probed the sea
floor off the coast of British Columbia for a possible El Dorado
of oil and gas. In 1972, however, the federal government imposed
a moratorium on all offshore drilling in the area, citing concerns
over potential environmental impacts. Then, in the aftermath of
Alaska's devastating Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, the province
added its own moratorium, and Ottawa abruptly halted plans to reconsider
its ban.
More recently, talk of lifting both moratoriums has resurfaced.
With downturns in commercial salmon fisheries and forestry industries,
the province is again looking out to sea for riches. The Geological
Survey of Canada estimates that the Queen Charlotte Basin, the area
with the most potential, could hold some 1.56 billion cubic metres
of crude oil and 734 billion cubic metres of natural gas — about
10 times the amount expected from Newfoundland's Hibernia oil field.
Hibernia and Sable Island, N.S., are the only offshore sites currently
operating in Canada. Hibernia produces about 12 percent of the country's
oil, and in 2002 alone, the oil industry pumped $1.3 billion back
into Newfoundland and directly employed 2,880 people. Royalties
from Sable Island are estimated at up to $2.3 billion over the reserve's
25-year lifespan.
Proponents of lifting the moratoriums cite the productive offshore
operations in Alaska's Cook Inlet and off the southern California
coast (right) as examples of viable seabed drilling closer to home.
Opponents — including federal Environment Minister and Victoria
MP David Anderson, who wants part of the region made a protected
marine park — say drilling here is risky because it is prone
to earthquakes and some of the biggest waves and strongest winds
on the coast. These conditions increase the chance of blowouts and
spills, which could threaten the rich biota. They add that offshore
exploration doesn't make much economic sense. Three of the biggest
stakeholders in the region — Chevron, Petro-Canada and Shell — have
no immediate plans to drill even if the moratoriums are lifted.
Projects such as Hibernia have also required hefty government grants.
In February, a Royal Society report commissioned by the federal
government to review the issue found no scientific reason oil and
gas should not be explored off the B.C. coast. Nevertheless, Ottawa
is holding a series of public hearings and consulting First Nations
before making a final decision. The province, on the other hand,
is ready to drill, pointing out in the 2003 throne speech that by
2010, British Columbia will "have an offshore oil-and-gas
industry that is up and running, environmentally sound and booming
with job creation."
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Whales
About 12,000 grey whales migrate through
Hecate Strait every year
Northern resident orcas forage and
travel through the strait, Queen Charlotte
Sound and the Dixon Entrance
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Fish
Hecate Strait is a major breeding and
fishing ground for crab, halibut, sole,
brill and rock fish
The main areas under consideration
for oil exploration account for more than
half the landed value of all B.C.'s fishery
products
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Sponge reefs
Glass sponge reefs (Hexactinellids)
were discovered in Hecate Strait and Queen
Charlotte Sound in the late 1980s and
are one of a kind in the world
Some of the reefs have already been
harmed by fishing trawlers
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Birds
An estimated 1.5 million seabirds nest
along the Queen Charlotte Islands every
summer
Dozens of migrating bird species stop
on the islands, located along the Pacific
flyway, in the spring and fall
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