Two environmental groups have just taken legal action against federal Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault over the approval of the Bay du Nord oil megaproject. They claim that exploiting 300 million barrels of oil in the marine environment goes against Canada’s international climate obligations.
Ecojustice, on behalf of Équiterre and the Sierra Club Canada Foundation, filed the lawsuit against the Minister of Environment and Climate Change in Federal Court. According to them, the green light given to the Norwegian oil company Equinor’s project contravenes “the urgent call to reduce global emissions, while the reality of the climate emergency becomes more and more alarming with each weather event”.
Environmental groups, including Équiterre (co-founded by Steven Guilbeault), notably dispute “the rhetoric of industry and governments” according to which the project will eventually be “carbon neutral”. This assertion, they point out, does not take into account the use of the oil that will be exploited off the coast of Newfoundland. Concretely, the use of this oil could emit 116 million tonnes of greenhouse gases.
“The green light given to Bay du Nord will have the effect of delaying the transition and locking in the economic development of communities in Newfoundland and Labrador in the exploitation of hydrocarbons,” said Colleen Thorpe, Executive Director of Équiterre. .
“This decision ignores the warnings of scientists and is inconsistent with our domestic and international obligations, and with our moral duty to present and future generations. This project poses a threat to our marine ecosystems and our greenhouse gas emission reduction targets,” she adds.
Marine ecosystems
Equinor holds exploration licenses in an area 470 kilometers off the coast of Newfoundland. It is in this area, where the seabed is more than 1,000 meters deep, that it wishes to drill up to 60 operating wells, while continuing exploratory drilling. According to company estimates, more than 300 million barrels of oil could be exploited by 2058.
Equinor’s project is located in an “ecologically and biologically significant area of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity”, but also in “vulnerable marine ecosystems”, according to what can be read in the final report from the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada (IAAC). The drilling will also be carried out near recognized critical habitats of endangered species, bird sanctuaries and an important “marine refuge” set up by the Trudeau government to achieve its objectives of protecting the oceans.
This maritime region is also recognized as an important habitat for several species of commercially exploited fish, 14 species of birds at risk as well as about fifteen species of marine mammals, which are particularly sensitive to underwater noise pollution. Equinor plans to do seismic surveys there.
As for the risks of an oil spill at sea, the AEIC report considers that these are minimal. The document also mentions that in the event of an oil “eruption” out of control, a “capping system” may have to be installed at the head of the operating well. But the deployment of this system would take “18 to 36 days”, since this equipment must be transported from Norway or Brazil.
Why hasn’t the federal government required that a “styling system” be available in Canada, for example in Newfoundland? “Having a styling equipment system in Eastern Canada is unlikely to reduce overall installation time, as the site must be prepared regardless of where the styling equipment is acquired” , explain to To have to the office of the Minister of the Environment, Steven Guilbeault.
Further details will follow.