Oil Pollution in Newfoundland
Impacts on Seabirds
by
Stan Tobin
Newfoundland and Labrador Environmental Association
Newfoundland and Labrador Environmental Association
• Nonprofit Association
• Mandate of environmental
conservation
• Focused on marine areas
• Actively involved in
monitoring oil pollution
Long History of Involvement in Oil Pollution Prevention
• In 1990, member of the
‘Brandersmith’ panel on
tanker safety and marine
spills
• 107 recommendations with
> 90 now implemented
• Did not effectively address
chronic oil pollution
• Member of the Regional
Advisory Committee
NLEA Actively Involved
• Maintains beach monitoring
for past 15 years
• Collects scientific data for
industry
• Lobbies Government and
interfaces with media
Chronic Oil Pollution the Major Problem
• 300,000 seabirds dying
annually
• Equivalent of an Exxon
Valdez each year
• Mystery spills from shipsource oil waste (esp. bilge
flushing)
• Potential for major oil spills is
high and recent increase in
offshore (drilling) incidents
NLEA Operates the Only Rehabilitation Centre in
Newfoundland
• Established in 1996
• Operated on volunteer
basis
• Capacity and
technology improving
• Ultimate benefits
unproven
Poor Record of Prosecution
• Judicial system is ‘soft’
• Fines are relatively low
• Offshore industry selfpolicing
• Interdepartmental mandate
conflicts - who enforces??
Scientific Capacity Extremely Poor
• No knowledge of status and trends
of seabird populations
• Ability to link oil on feathers to
ship source not proven
• ‘Fingerprinting’ technology
(chromatography) is outdated
• Need innovation, e.g. mass
spectrometry
•
Gov’t of Canada not monitoring
populations or impacts
Problems Increasing In Magnitude
• Proportion of ‘beached birds’
oiled continues to increase
• Mortality due to oiling is in
addition to large annual
hunter kills (2-300,000)
• Oil tanker traffic increased in
environmentally sensitive
areas (Placentia Bay)
• Offshore oil extraction
having significant spills but
cannot be directly monitored
Proportion Corpses Oiled
0.9
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
1950
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
Drastic Need For Improvements
• Focus On Prevention
• Increased Surveillance and
Fines (Transport Canada)
• Established Seabird
Monitoring Programs
(Environment Canada)
• Increased Partnership With
Industry