Fundy oil projects viewed as fishery risk
Two projects that could increase the number of oil tankers in the Bay of Fundy are raising concerns among environmentalists and fishermen about the risks to the bay's ecosystem and its fisheries, according to The Quoddy Tides.
TransCanada Corp.'s proposed Energy East Pipeline would pump 1.1 million barrels of crude oil a day from western Canada to the east. Saint John is currently the only export terminal included in the project, meaning most of the oil would pass through the Bay of Fundy‑Gulf of Maine ecosystem on an additional 115 to 290 tankers per year, according to the Conservation Council of New Brunswick.
Shell Canada is hoping to begin exploratory drilling for oil and gas in the Shelburne Basin, about 155 miles southeast of Nova Scotia, with seven exploration wells over a four-year period. The oil reserves available from Shell's lease sites on the Scotian Shelf are estimated at 8 billion barrels, which could mean that Shell might be extracting oil for 80 years.
John Davis, director of the newly formed Clean Ocean Action Committee — fishermen's organizations and concerned individuals on Nova Scotia's South Shore — told the paper, "These proposals have to be of great concern to the fishing industry in Massachusetts and Maine."
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