No Cause for Complaint – Says Premier Clark on Oceans Protection Plan
Vancouver, B.C.- Premier Christy Clark says she looks forward to finalizing the agreement for the Oceans Protection Plan.Saying the Oceans Protection Plan announced by the Federal Government today ( see previous story) is “long overdue”, Premier Clark says it is something that is critically important to not just British Columbia but the entire nation.
The ocean is a lifeline for so many jobs, so many families, so many communities an the ocean is also the basis of all life on earth. Our ecology depends on a healthy ocean, so that’s why we’ve worked so hard in our province to define what world leading looks like we’ve identified the gaps, we’ve had intensive discussions over the years with this government and the government previous, to make sure that they understand what it is we think we need in this province. I am really gratified to say that the Federal Government response we’ve seen today, identifies the gaps that we’ve identified. I look forward to finalizing the details to make sure we implement the plans that they’ve set out.”
The Premier says the devil is in the details and the full plan has not yet been seen”We set out eleven gaps that needed to be filled, we wanted to make sure all the commitments made, that when they fill out the details they are what we set out.”
The Premier says while the plan impacts the Atlantic, the Arctic and the Pacific, the bulk of the benefits of the plan seem to flow to British Columbia.
She says there is still a lot of work to do if the Federal Government approves the Kinder Morgan pipeline but adds, the Courts have also ruled B.C. has to do its own environmental assessment on that project “So there is still a lot of work to do.”
She says the plan, at this point, doesn’t give BC everything it needs “We’ve got a big coast, we’ve got a lot of rough weather, we think we need more than one tug ( as outlined in the plan)”.
Comments
If the money was evenly split between the Pacific Coast, Artic, and the Atlantic Coast we would be looking at approx. $106 Million per year for five years.
He’s getting ready for the pollution that will be encountered after the Kinder Morgan pipeline is built. When the pollution starts the oil barons should pay for it not the tax payer
Cheers
The Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline is already there, has been since the 1950s
Yes it has been.
It would be nice if someone knew how much of that was being used in BC, in Washington State via pipeline and going onto the smaller tankers allowed into the waters beyond the Port Angeles point.
Finally, I am assuming the the additional capacity will be exported, unless the lower mainland is running out of oil. If it will be primarily exported, then the shipping will increase substantially.
———————-
As far as splitting the new money for protecting Canada’s coastal waters, it is obviously not going to be split three ways. As Clark stated, BC will be getting the largest portion … whatever that is.
You had better wake up. There is a new one in the works. Why allthe protests.
Cheers
Anyone else heard about last month’s British Petroleum (BP) announcement that approximately 95 tons of oil was accidentally released into the North Sea from one of their oil rig platforms located west of the Shetland Islands? Do you know what BP’s response to that oil spill was?
“At present, we believe the most appropriate response is to allow the oil to disperse naturally at sea, but contingencies for other action are being prepared,” BP said in a statement. Yup, that’s right folks, their response to their own oil spill was to have no response, to do nothing and let the oil disperse itself… how is that for “world class” oil spill response and recovery?
www .duluthnewstribune.com/news/4128298-bp-says-oil-spill-north-sea-will-disperse-naturally
Let face reality, there will be no “world class” oil spill response and cleanup off our BC Coast. The current off shore oil spill recovery rate is around 5% to 15% of the total volume spilled. Don’t believe the hype Christy is selling here, it is not based in any scientific fact what-so-ever.
Must have been a lot more than ’95 tons’ of oil released into the Atlantic every time a U-boat torpedoed a tanker in World War Two. Where did all that oil go? It ‘dispersed’. Same as it will from BP’s spill. “The solution to pollution is dilution.”
Well, I must shake my head at Socredible’s comment. Maybe s/he would prefer to go back in time…ie… to horses,not cars; no votes for women,
No cancer cures…the list goes on. We must move forward and get smarter and use the best knowledge we have to help make the environment better. Pollution of any kind, only hurts ourselves and our environment. Dilution of a poison in our future kids, and/or their environment, is not an option .
No, quesnel, I would not like to go back in time, even if it were possible, which it isn’t. I simply asked a question about where all the oil went from what must have been the hundreds of oil tankers torpedoed in World War Two. That must have been considerable relative to BP’s latest reported spill of “95 tons” into the North Sea. Obviously it ‘dispersed’. In fact trying to contain an oil spill in the North Sea or North Atlantic BEFORE it disperses would be quite a challenge. One that’s likely to prove completely impossible given that these are two of the roughest bodies of water in the world.
While it is always preferable that there not be any pollution, again, that’s something that is completely impossible. Each one of us ‘pollutes’ every day of our lives, after we’ve eaten, and, even, every time we breathe. ‘Dilution’ is how it is dealt with in nature.
We face more problems from the present shipping than we do from oil or LNG tankers. Look at the oil spill from the freighter in English Bay or the tug that just ran aground. Large petrolium exporters have promised to build many more spill response facilities. At present the ones we have are so far apart that it takes days for them to respond properly.
Skeptics should look at the web site for the Pacific Pilotage Authority and you’ll see why the risk of tanker collisions or groundings is minimal. Very informative.
The freighter that spilled in English Bay was at anchor and no pilot required on the tug.
Actually most of the BP spill disappeared into microbes mouths. These same microbes also eat plastic that is why there has been no pictures of those so called oceans of plastic out on the ocean. Nature has been dealing with its own spills since oil has been formed.
Not saying there should not be prevention and cleanup just placing some information on natures capabilities.
The following link is a map of Trans Mountain (Kinder Morgan) Pipeline oil spills from 1961 to 2013. Their expansion project involves “twinning” the pipeline, which statistically means “doubling” the number of oil spills over their (one) pipeline.
www .vancouverobserver.com/sites/vancouverobserver.com/files/images/article/body/draft4-corrected_0.png
However, by twinning their pipeline, the volume of Alberta Tar Sands oil reaching tide water will triple. This will mean a seven (7) fold increase in tanker traffic in Burrard Inlet and along BC’s southern coast; from five oil tankers a month to thirty-five oil tankers a month. These are the facts, and those are the increased risks of an oil spill in Burrard Inlet and along BC’s Southern Coast!
ht tp://globalnews.ca/news/900601/kinder-morgan-pipeline-expansion-will-increase-tanker-traffic-nearly-seven-fold/
You do realize tankers have been plying the southern coast for decades and are heavily controlled. Any issues yet. Multiple tugs, two pilots, traffic control, weather watch.
As for oil spills here is more information
ht tps://wattsupwiththat.com/2012/09/11/inconvenient-bacteria-eats-a-good-portion-deepwater-horizon-oil-spill/
Interesting read on the Exxon Valdez. Also since then tankers are still transiting but are double hulled, under positive control for longer and tug escorted.
h ttp://www.evostc.state.ak.us/%3FFA=facts.QA
Comments for this article are closed.