The 2022 Canadian Ecotoxicity Workshop program is available here
Abstract
Environmental effects management (EEM) connected to offshore oil and gas development has been in effect for over two decades in Canada’s Atlantic waters, being integrated into Canada’s impact assessment (IA) legal frameworks and regulatory oversight mechanisms. Methods for monitoring, in particular the ecotoxicological effects of hydrocarbons and other potential pollutants related to routine operations, have evolved, punctuated also by intense periods of research on accidental oil spills following disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. This paper briefly surveys that history, and then describes a present day science-policy tension. On the one hand, as a review of EEM reports and IA documents associated with offshore development projects makes clear, after so many years EEM appears to be confident of itself, contributing to what appears to be a trend towards relaxing the IA regime for Canada’s offshore. On the other hand, concerns about our abilities to monitor and thus understand the toxicological effects of routine operations on the ecotoxicology of fish and fish habitat features centrally in the record of community concerns about offshore development, including Indigenous communities in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia. The concerns only increase with respect to effects of major spills due to accidental releases from wellheads or transport. This presentation concludes with some science-policy considerations regarding the continued role that Canada’s ecotoxicology community can play to address this tension, and as Newfoundland and Labrador seeks to expand its offshore hydrocarbon development.
Citation
Stewart, I. (2022). Environmental Effects Monitoring in Canada’s Offshore Oil and Gas Sector: Observations on a Science Policy Tension. Canadian Ecotoxicity Workshop, 2-5 October 2022. Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Related Blog Post
Stewart, I. (13 December 2022). Impact Assessment, Climate Change, and Environmental Effects Monitoring: Collaborations and Conference Presentations. EIUI Blog. https://eiui.ca/impact-assessment-climate-change-and-environmental-effects-monitoring-collaborations-and-conference-presentations/