Government’s New Arctic Oil Lease Ill Advised: WWF

WWF

The federal Department of Indian and Northern Affairs (INAC) announced that Chevron Canada Ltd. paid $103.3 million for a deep site in the Beaufort Sea, the result of a bidding process that closed July 6. Bids were invited before the BP plc-leased Deepwater Horizon exploratory well blew up off Louisiana’s coast, resulting in unprecedented environmental and economic disaster.

“We currently lack the capacity or technology to clean up spills in remote, harsh conditions like the Beaufort,” said Arlin Hackman, Vice President and Chief Conservation Officer, WWF-Canada. “Awarding the deep water lease in advance of both the investigative report on BP’s spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the NEB public review, near our disputed international boundary with the US and without an overall plan for conservation and development in the region, maximizes all types of risk without any obvious benefit. This is a fault line in Canada’s global claim to Arctic stewardship.”

“The NEB review must look at more than just how we drill; the review must address the need to plan and sequence development to minimize environmental impacts.” said Rob Powell, Director of WWF-Canada’s Mackenzie River Basin program. “Awarding leases in areas that could prove to be high conservation value zones could create unnecessary conflict in the future, with the prospect of development in inappropriate places or wasted investments by the companies.”

WWF is a member of the Beaufort Sea Partnership, which is attempting to develop plans to responsibly manage the Beaufort Sea. Canada’s Oceans Act mandates the development of integrated management plans and marine protected area networks in all of Canada’s oceans, though this has not yet been completed in the Beaufort, or elsewhere in Canada’s waters. The Beaufort Sea Partnership, which is co-led by the Inuvialuit and the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO), is working on a plan that would reconcile development and conservation issues.

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For further information:

Rob Powell, Director, Mackenzie River Basin Program, WWF-Canada, Tel.: (780) 459-9453 (work); (780) 902-7100 (cell); [email protected]

Arlin Hackman, Vice President, Conservation, WWF-Canada, Tel.: (416) 489-8800, Ext. 7701 (work); (647) 400-9571 (cell); [email protected]

Paulette Roberge, Communications Specialist, WWF-Canada, Tel: (613) 232-2504 (work); (613) 302-2519 (cell); [email protected]