{"id":24697,"date":"2011-09-10T17:25:55","date_gmt":"2011-09-10T21:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=24697"},"modified":"2011-09-10T17:25:55","modified_gmt":"2011-09-10T21:25:55","slug":"becoming-arctic-ready-report-urges-canada-to-reform-drilling-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/becoming-arctic-ready-report-urges-canada-to-reform-drilling-laws\/","title":{"rendered":"Becoming 'Arctic Ready' – Report Urges Canada to Reform Drilling Laws"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Spring,<\/a>
Spring in the Canadian Arctic (NASA photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A new report by the Pew Environmental Group (PEG) asserts that Canada’s system of regulating and licensing offshore oil and gas drilling requires “major reforms” to create an “Arctic ready future” that will protect the region and its people from serious environmental harm.<\/p>\n

The 27-page report,\u00a0Becoming Arctic-Ready<\/a>, was sent to Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Friday as well as the\u00a0National Energy Board<\/a>\u00a0(NEB),which is a (Canadian) independent agency currently conducting public review of offshore oil drilling rules in the Canadian Arctic.<\/p>\n

The report identifies crucial gaps in the Canadian government’s licensing process and regulatory system and recommends an 11-step program of policy reforms. The timing couldn’t be better as Canada is currently in the process of approving its first deep water, oil and gas development project. The exploratory phase of this operation is the most environmentally crucial, as this initial phase is when the risk of a catastrophic “blow out” (due to an up-welling of highly pressuring gas and oil) is at its highest.<\/p>\n

\"Canadian<\/a>
Canadian Arctic Oil and Gas Reference Map (PEG) {click to enlarge}<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The report also notes that Canada has yet to implement key regulations made over twenty years ago made by by a federal-provincial-Inuvialuit review board. That review, which examined shallow-water oil drilling in the Beaufort Sea, found an “inability to adequately contain and clean up a major oil spill in the Arctic\u2019s icy, remote waters; inadequate assessment of potential liability; and a lack of consultation with Inuit about proposed oil development.” (source: PEW news article; see below for link).<\/p>\n

The NEB is holding hearings in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, this coming week as part of its Public Review of Arctic Safety and Environmental Offshore Drilling Requirements. This review, which will conclude in December of this year, was established primarily to review proposals from industry to weaken<\/em> the “same-season relief well” rule which was designed to prevent multi-year blowouts. The rule requires that an spill or blow out be stopped before the ocean freezes up again.<\/p>\n

In the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon\/BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, this industry proposal has become highly contentious.<\/p>\n

\"Inuit<\/a>
Inuit women at Nain, Newfoundland and Labrador (credit: Perrona)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PEG report co-author Louis Porta states that “\u201cRequiring that operators have the capability to kill a blowout and contain a spill in the same season is essential to safeguard the Arctic from devastating environmental damage,\u201d<\/p>\n

But the NEB has only partial authority in the matter, as the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) is responsible for licensing. Since 2010, the INAC has issued three offshore drilling licenses for drilling in the deepest offshore locations ever permitted. Inuit leaders from the region have asked INAC to cease issuing licenses until new regulations are in place. Native leaders are asking the federal government for a “time out” on the issuing of new licenses. The PEG report offers some weighty, additional support for their position.<\/p>\n

(From the PEW news site article):<\/p>\n

Among the Pew report\u2019s key recommendations for reform are:<\/p>\n

\"Hudson's<\/a>
Hudson's Bay Company Ships, Prince of Wales and Eddystone, bartering with Inuit off the Upper Savage Islands, Hudson Strait, Canada , 1819 (Hood, Robert (1795\/6 - 1821)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n