An environmental consultant estimates that various options for cleaning up oil spills in Canada’s Arctic offshore would be impractical 20 percent to 84 percent of the time during the June-November open-water season because of bad weather or sea ice.
S.L. Ross Environmental Research, in a report commissioned by Canada’s National Energy Board, based its findings on 20 years’ of weather data for the near and far offshore Beaufort Sea and the Davis Strait west of Greenland’s Disko Bay.
It concluded that using one of three options — burning oil slicks, deploying booms and skimmers to contain and remove oil and conducting an aerial dispersant application — would not be possible a minimum of 20 percent of the time in June, worsening to 65 percent in October in the Beaufort.
For two sections of the Davis Strait, July conditions would prevent cleanup 27 percent of the time, worsening to 84 percent in November.
The consultant noted fickle weather conditions in the Arctic region change from day to day and would make cleanup harder as oil emulsified with seawater.
Final report next year
The NEB is expected to deliver its final report to the Canadian government in 2012 after being ordered by Ottawa to expand a review that was already under way when BP’s Deepwater Horizon blowout occurred in the Gulf of Mexico.
The regulator said it is paying special attention to recommendations made by the U.S. National Commission on the BP incident.
The Canadian government is under pressure to toughen rules that have been in place for 40 years and carry a liability cap of only C$40 million under a policy that requires a relief well to be drilled in the same season as a blowout — a requirement that has been challenged by companies that are developing programs to explore the Beaufort.
Imperial Oil, ExxonMobil Canada, BP, Chevron Canada and ConocoPhillips Canada have made work commitments in the hundreds of millions of dollars to secure exploration licenses.
None has scheduled any drilling before 2014, but all are urging the NEB to drop its requirement for same-season relief wells in the event of a blowout or spill.
Rob Powell, of the World Wildlife Fund’s Arctic program, said it is important that research such as the S.L. Ross study is conducted before Canada’s approves any more activity in the Arctic.
He said that what matters most is what percentage of oil can be recovered, noting the report’s finding that even when weather conditions are at their best, technology does not offer a complete answer.
