Yesterday evening, Matt Abbott, Fundy Baykeeper of the Conservation Council of New Brunswick (CCNB) and one of the speakers presenting at the National Energy Board panel sessions today was a guest on CTV Atlantic with Steve Murphy. He says we need to look at both sides of the ledger — jobs at risks in fisheries and tourism versus jobs created by the pipeline.
“Making the money through the Energy East pipeline, puts at risks a lot of other economic opportunities,” said the Fundy Baykeeper.
“A spill can’t be cleaned up, but what a spill can do is it can put jobs in fisheries, tourism – long-term sustainable jobs – at risk.”
During the interview, Abbott raised a number of concerns about the Energy East pipeline, including:
- the risk of potential oil spills in the Bay of Fundy
- the negative effect of increased tanker traffic on marine life native to the Bay of Fundy, such as the endangered Right Whale and New Brunswick’s vulnerable Atlantic Salmon population
- the risks to the current sustainable jobs that depend on the Bay of Fundy, such as New Brunswick’s fishing and ecotourism industries
“We need to remove stress from the Bay of Fundy, not add to it,” said Abbott.
“This is one of the most difficult places in the world to clean up an oil spill.”
Listen to the full interview here.