Natural resources minister Kathy Dunderdale, as quoted in a recent Telegram editorial:
Mr. Speaker, in terms of an oil spill offshore, the greatest vulnerability will exist to the bird population. Mr. Speaker, based on 40 to 50 years of wind study, it is shown that oil, because of the wave action and the coldness of the sea, Mr. Speaker, breaks up and disperses. ... Mr. Speaker, we had an oil spill in 2004 on the Terra Nova. Mr. Speaker, that oil dispersed, broke up, and went away. Ocean floor studies have been done, Mr. Speaker, there is no evidence of oil from that oil spill on the floor around our Terra Nova project.
From the same editorial, a quote attributed to a Chevron report on drilling in the Orphan Basin:
The report notes a spill could cause 'relatively few' to a 'very large' number of seabird deaths. But overall, it concludes a spill 'will not result in any significant residual impacts' on animals.
And when you’ve digested that, take a look at some pictures from the Gulf of Mexico.
-srbp-
