NORRIS POINT, NEWFOUNDLAND - The Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (CNOPB) is
undertaking a stategic environmental impact assessment to examine the
risks of oil and gas developlment in its region of the Gulf of St.
Lawrence and is planning public consultations which will likely be held
in the summer of 2012 in all Gulf provinces, except New Brunswick.
Quebec is finalizing its own strategic environmental assessment of oil
and gas development in its region of the Gulf, which could lead to a
lifting of its current moratorium.
"It is inexplicable why New Brunswick has been left out of the public
consultations considering fish swim and oil slicks drift," siad David
Coon, Executive Director of CCNB. "New Brunswick fishermen depend on
fish stocks which spend part of the year in the middle of the Gulf and
oil spills in the Newfoundand can reach our shores. Most of our
Atlantic salmon migrate right through the region called Old Harry, which
is currently scheduled for exploratory drilling," said Coon.
The St. Lawrence Coalion is encouraging people to participate in the
consulations this summer to have a say in the future of the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, but says most people are currently unaware of the issue.
"CCNB would like to see our provincial government write the CNOPB to
request that they hold a consultation meeting in New Brunswick," said
Coon. It is essential that the communities of the Acadian peninsual and
the Chaleur region have an opportunity to express their views on oil
and gas development in the Gulf of St. Lawrence."
The St. Lawrence Coalition consists of more than 3500 individual
members, 80 organizations and First Nations from the five Gulf
provinces. The Coalition is want a moratorium on exploration for fossil
fuels in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
