Yesterday, Matt Abbott, the Conservation Council’ Fundy Baykeeper, was quoted in an article published by Local Xpress following the release of tender documents that say the federal government will be studying the effect extreme weather caused by climate change has on marine spills off the coast of Nova Scotia.
Fundy Baykeeper says climate is always a factor — he has seen several small oil spills where weather played a part.
“We’ve had oil spills that couldn’t be tracked because of bad weather, we’ve had oil spills where they haven’t been able to respond to them because of bad weather and we even had an oil spill in 2007 which was, quite simply, lost in the fog,” Abbott told Local Xpress. “We know oil spilled but it was foggy and people weren’t able to find where it went and if it hit shore anywhere in a remote area or if it went through key habitat areas.”
“With weather patterns changing associated with climate change, some of these issues are likely to only get worse,” he said. “We should acknowledge that there have been significant increases in tanker safety over the years, but there are still very real risks there.”
Read the full story here.
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- Read the Conservation Council of New Brunswick report on the risks to the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine here: Tanker Traffic and Tar Balls: What TransCanada’s Energy East Pipeline Means for the Bay of Fundy and Gulf of Maine
- Read the National Resource Defense Council’s report on tanker traffic and potential issues affecting the Bay here: Sensitive Marine Ecosystems Threatened by Energy East’s ‘Aquatic Pipeline’
- Watch a magnificent Humpback whale breaching in the Bay of Fundy here: Humpback Fundy.
- Read CCNB’s bold, made-in-New Brunswick plan to address climate change here:Climate Action Plan.