Hard times in BC's export economy are fuelling an effort to lift the moratorium on offshore oil and gas development.
by Oonagh O'Connor, Living Oceans Society
The exploration and development of offshore oil and gas have been prohibited on the west coast of Canada for almost 30 years because of the threat they pose to our environment and coastal economy. Now downturns in BC's resource export economy have some people promoting offshore oil and gas.
Those in favour of lifting the moratorium make promises of economic gains, but fail to provide information about the inevitable costs associated with the finding, extracting, transporting, and burning of oil and gas.
In order to find out more about the experiences of communities where offshore oil and gas are occurring, Living Oceans Society has conducted thorough research on the impacts, and is committed to sharing this information with coastal communities.
Research shows overwhelming evidence of economic, ecological and social risks associated with oil extraction, exploration, transportation and the burning of oil and gas. Oil spills are not the only source of concern when it comes to oil and gas extraction. Blowouts, chronic pipeline leaks, increased greenhouse gas emissions, the effect of seismic explosions on commercial fisheries and marine life are only some of the reasons why it is important to continue to prohibit offshore oil and gas on the west coast.
Offshore oil and gas development occurs at a large cost to society. Increases in domestic violence, drug use, and a decrease in property values have occurred alongside the offshore industry.
"We can no longer ignore the impacts of oil production on humans, their cultures and their lifestyles," claims sociologist Dr. Steven Picou, who studied the social impacts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
As a result of the spill, the community of Cordova, Alaska has suffered economic and social turmoil, including an increase in depression, domestic violence, and the crime rate. A 1998 study by Impact Assessment Inc. reported that in the year following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the number of reports of domestic violence increased 118% and the number of arrests increased 124% in the town of Valdez.
Elsewhere the offshore oil and gas industry has also disrupted the overall quality of life.
A 1998 report by CEF Consultants found that in Louisiana, where the offshore oil and gas industry has operated for the last 40 years: "The oil industry has led to many of the coastal communities having highly transient populations, with resulting social problems, unstable relationships, drug use and high crime rates."
In the Mississippi Delta and Texas coastal estuaries, toxic pollutants emitted by the oil industry have destroyed wet lands and contaminated the water. One controversial region in Louisiana has become known as Cancer Alley.
Seismic testing
Destructive impacts of offshore oil begin with seismic testing, the first stage of oil exploration.
Seismic testing involves air guns that emit explosive shock waves directed at the sea bed, giving the oil company information about the rock formation and the most likely location of oil. These noisy shock waves, reverberating through the sea, impact marine life including mammals, fish and larvae. As a result, fishers' livelihoods have also been affected.
The catch rates of cod and had dock are reduced by at least 50% during and after seismic testing, according to a study by Norwegian scientists. East coast cod and halibut fisherman Herb Nash says they've known all along that the seismic testing has been scaring the fish away, but nobody has been able to get the oil industry to listen.
"Not only does seismic testing decrease our catch rates, it cuts our fishing time way down, too.
"One day we had just finished setting up our halibut gear and they pulled up next to my boat and told us to be out of there in two hours so they could start seismic testing. It takes 12 hours to haul in our gear and they wanted us out of there in two hours."
Conflicts between fishermen and the offshore oil industry in California motivated another experiment where hook-and-line catch rates for various Redfish species were reduced by 50% during the use of a single air gun. Seismic surveys, however, involve the use of many air guns.
In 1985 Chevron proposed the use of up to 36 high-pressured air guns to perform seismic testing in the Hecate Strait area of the BC coast. Spread over an area 150 metres wide by 100 metres long, the guns would have fired every 15 seconds and covered a total area of 5,200 kilometres.
The explosive noise generated from seismic testing is of great concern to marine researchers because of the impact it will have on different species. Research has indicated that the explosive shock waves destroy fish air bladders and harm nearby larvae.
The marine environment is an acoustic world, where sound is the main form of communication. Whale specialist Dr. Paul Spong explains, "Whales are animals which depend on acoustics for feeding, communication, reproduction, and their complex social interactions. To impose even more noise on their environment could be disastrous to the orca populations."
While very few experiments have examined the impact of seismic testing on marine mammals, one study indicated grey whales would alter their migratory path when exposed to seismic noise.
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Communities have been torn apart by the effects of spills, and harvesting foods is no longer an option. |
Sperm whales in the Gulf of Mexico were displaced more than 50 kilometres when seismic surveys began; a study of bowhead whales in the Beaufort Sea indicated strong avoidance behaviour within eight kilometres of an active seismic vessel.
BC's 1986 West Coast Offshore Exploration Environmental Review Panel recognized the proposed area for oil exploration–Hecate Strait, Dixon Entrance, and Queen Charlotte Sound–as vital to the commercial fishery, accounting for over 50% of the landed value of all fishery products. This area is the migratory pathway for over a billion juvenile and adult salmon. About 12,000 grey whales pass through these waters every spring and fall, and it is the summer and fall territory of northern resident orcas.
Spills and more spills
The impacts of oil spills are unfortunately inevitable as long as oil is extracted and transported. Based on current levels of tanker traffic, Environment Canada predicts that "Canada can expect over 100 small oil spills, about 10 moderate spills, and at least one major spill offshore each year. A catastrophic spill (over 10,000 tonnes) may occur once every 15 years." An increase in oil development means an increase in the chances of spills.
Ten years later, the impacts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill are still being felt in Alaska's Prince William Sound. As a result of the oil spill, the value of commercial fishing permits in Cordova Alaska has plunged 90%. Fishermen whose livelihoods were devastated by the spill have never been compensated despite court rulings in their favour.
Sociologist Stephen Picou studied Prince William residents after the Exxon Valdez oil spill and found that "in 1997 40% of the commercial fishermen in Cordova still experienced symptoms of severe depression and post traumatic stress disorder."
The subsistence-based community of Chenaga Bay has been torn apart socially and economically by the effects of the oil spill. Harvesting the foods from the beaches and surrounding waters is no longer an option.
Offshore oil and gas development threatens sustainable industries such as commercial fishing and tourism. Such approaches to economic development often stand in the way of a diversified healthy economy.
By keeping the offshore oil and gas moratorium in place we are protecting fisheries, local economies and marine animals that depend on a healthy ocean.
If you're concerned about the government lifting the moratorium on offshore oil and gas, tell our new premier, Ujjal Dosanjh. Write him at: Office of the Premier, Parliament Buildings, Victoria, BC V8V 1X4.
* For more information about the impacts of offshore oil and gas, or the sources cited in this article, please contact Living Oceans Society at (250)973-6580, or fax (250)973-6581, or email: oceans@livingoceans.org
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[From WS April/May 2000]