“Newfoundland’s oil industry will have everything to gain from opening up the Gulf to oil – and other industries and provinces have everything to lose,” according to Mary Gorman of the Save Our Seas and Shores Coalition. “This is a precious, shared ecosystem. The Premiers need to be talking about working together to protect it.”
Discussing the Gulf should also be top of mind for the Premiers in light of recent environmental assessment by Newfoundland’s offshore board giving a green light to oil and gas development off Newfoundland’s West Coast.
The Coalition points to concerns raised by Gulf scientists stating that any oil spilled from Old Harry will land on PEI, NS as well as NL’s western coast (http://saveourseasandshores.ca/2013/11/pelletier‐interview/).
“The science is clear that the Gulf is on the knife’s edge in terms of industrial development," according to Dr. Irene Novaczek, Science Advisor to the SOSS‐PEI Chapter. “ We know our Premier is concerned and we hope he will bring these concerns to the table at these meetings.”
“We have been calling for a stop to oil and gas development in the Gulf for over a decade," says Gretchen Fitzgerald of Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter, “Dangerous oil development could go ahead by the end of this year. It’s about time it made it on the agenda when our Premiers talk.”
Background: Oil spill modeling in the Gulf of St. Lawrence: http://iopscience.iop.org/1748‐
9326/9/5/054001/article
