May 26, 2016
Seabirds exposed to even a
dime-sized amount of oil can die of hypothermia in cold-water regions, but
despite repeated requests by Environment Canada, offshore oil operators are
failing when it comes to self-monitoring of small oil spills, says new research
out of York University.
Chronic pollution from many small
oil spills may have greater population-level impacts on seabirds than a single
large spill, suggest researchers Gail Fraser and Vincent Racine of York U's
Faculty of Environmental Studies. However, seabirds are rarely considered in
the monitoring of small spills from offshore oil production
projects in Newfoundland and Labrador even though Environment Canada has asked
that they be included.
In an article published in the
international journal, Marine Pollution Bulletin, Fraser and Racine looked
at how offshore oil operators monitored and responded to small spills (less
than 1,000 litres) for three production projects off the coast of Newfoundland
and Labrador.
In three high-profile
environmental assessments Environment Canada repeatedly requested that impacts
on seabirds be monitored following small spills, but this has not happened.
"Industry self-monitoring of
spills has failed to collect information that would allow researchers to
understand the impact of chronic oil spills on seabirds," said Fraser, who
along with Racine is calling for independent observers on the offshore
platforms. "Many seabird populations are declining and understanding
sources of mortality is critical to their conservation."
Fraser and Racine looked at
reporting and monitoring of spills between 1997 and 2010. The researchers obtained
operator spill reports under an Access to Information request. They found there
were 220 daytime spills. Reporting on the presence or absence of seabirds was
done in only 11 (five per cent) of the cases. The Canadian Wildlife Service's
seabird survey protocol should be followed when a spill occurs, but none of the
reports showed evidence of that. The time it takes for a small spill to
dissipate was also not in the spill reports and this information is required to
estimate possible interactions of oil spilled with seabirds. "The lack of
information on seabirds during oil spills indicates a need for third-party
observers," said Fraser.
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