16-02-04 A study commissioned by the federal government has concluded there are no scientific barriers preventing oil and gas exploration off British Columbia's northern coast near the Queen Charlotte Islands. The Royal Society of Canada report does not call for the immediate lifting of federal and provincial moratoria on offshore oil and gas exploration in British Columbia. But the report does say the industry faces few hurdles.
"Provided an adequate regulatory regime is put in place, there are no science gaps that need to be filled before lifting the moratoria on oil and gas development," the report says. "It is equally important to recognize that this does not mean that science gaps do not exist (we have outlined many.) Nor should it mean that the panel recommends that the development be allowed to begin immediately."

The Department of Natural Resources Canada commissioned the Royal Society of Canada to review offshore oil exploration along the picturesque northern coast. The Royal Society of Canada is the senior national body of distinguished Canadian scientists and scholars.
The province asked the federal government last year to consider lifting its 30-year moratorium on offshore oil exploration after a BC study found few science gaps preventing exploration.

Environmental groups said the report is disappointing because it lists potential concerns, but says industry and science will be able to address them in the future.
"It lists all sorts of issues and then it says there's no real reason why we can't go ahead and lift the moratorium," said Jennifer Lash, spokeswoman for the Living Oceans Society. "We don't know the impacts of half of the activities from offshore oil and gas," she said.

A spokesman for the David Suzuki Foundation compared the report to an incomplete medical analysis, but one that still receives approval.
"We've identified lots of problems with blood pressure and with possibilities of infections and the possibility that even the patient might die," said Jim Fulton, a former federal NDP MP. "But we're going to lift the moratorium anyway, and all of those other gaps in medical science, they'll get fixed up because the actual operation isn't for a while yet," he said.

The Queen Charlotte Basin area has been called an inland sea due to its crowded island geography, Fulton said. The area is also known for fierce storms that regularly generate 10-metre waves and 140 km winds. BC Energy Minister Richard Neufeld said some of Canada's most renowned environmental scientists contributed to the report.
"What else would you expect from environmentalists, to be perfectly honest," he said. British Columbians should take comfort in the conclusions in the report and governments should continue to move ahead on the oil and gas issue, Neufeld said.

The report recommended the immediate formation of an advisory body of stakeholders, including government, First Nations, oil and gas industry representatives and environmental representatives to study the issue further.
"Oil is unlikely to be produced from the Queen Charlotte Basin for at least 15 years," the report said. The report also recommended maintaining a coastal exclusion exploration zone of 20 km, banning seismic surveys in waters less than 20 metres deep and designating sponge reefs in the Queen Charlotte Basin as marine protected areas.

Natural Resources Minister John Efford said the Royal Society's report is comprehensive. He said he must wait for the results of two other reports before making any decision on lifting the federal moratorium. A three-member panel is expected to start public hearings shortly and report to Ottawa by June, he said. First Nations are also reviewing the issue. BC environmental groups say the panel is too heavily weighted in favour of the oil and gas industry.
"We will not delay this any longer than we have to," Efford said. "As soon as we get the reports, my responsibility will be to take it to government and look for a decision."
He said the Royal Society report has fewscientific issues to prevent lifting the federal or provincial moratoria, "but from a government point of view I've got to wait for two more reports."

The Royal Society report, which was posted on its website, concluded that tough regulations and monitoring will ensure offshore oil and gas exploration can occur off the coast without risk to the environment or people.
"With the implementations of the recommendations... and the assumptions on which they are based, all the safeguards will be in place, when they are needed, to ensure that assessments of risk of oil and gas activities to human life and environment in the (Queen Charlotte Basin)," the report said.

But the report says the current ban on oil tanker traffic along the north coast must stay in force.
"Even with the improved record of spills in territorial waters of North America over the last 10 years, there is no imperative to relax this restriction," said the report. Recommendations and conclusions of a scientific study on oil and gas exploration and development in the Queen Charlotte Basin off the northern BC coast:

Recommendations
-- Form advisory body consisting of government, including First Nations, oil and gas industry, community leaders, environmental groups and others;
-- Undertake baseline studies in such areas as ecologically important, sensitive and harvested species in basin, mapping of sea floor, measuring ocean currents and winds, measuring seismic activity;
-- Begin chemical and biological monitoring studies as soon as possible on potential and past drill sites, as well as control or reference sites;
-- Government should designate sponge reefs in the basin as marine protected areas and determine which other areas should be protected, and
-- Maintain for now the 20 km coastal exclusion zone for drilling, prohibit seismic surveys in waters less than 20 metres deep and from all areas deemed critical habitat for endangered, threatened or other species of concern. Conclusions
-- Provided adequate regulatory regime put in place, there are no science gaps that need to be filled before lifting moratoriums on oil and gas development, and
-- Present restrictions on tanker traffic within coastal zone should be maintained.

Source: The Canadian Press