Offshore drilling not worth risk

Now that hurricane season is here we are seeing images of BP oil arriving once again on Louisiana beaches. This raises red flags for me about the potential for such a spill in our Gulf of St. Lawrence, should Corridor Resources go ahead with their deepwater drilling plans in the ‘Old Harry’ prospect.

The Canadian Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board’s public open house sessions in Miramichi (Oct. 9), Charlottetown (Oct. 10) and Sydney (Oct.11) may be the only chance for citizens to share their concerns about oil drilling plans for our Gulf.

The corporation running the sessions and drafting the report boasts of a “long-term customer relationship with a portfolio of leading national and international oil and gas operating companies”.

One has to ask if they have anything to gain from oil development proceeding in the Gulf. Do they have the interest and expertise to examine whether the oil development should even go ahead at all?

Fish are surfacing deformed in the Gulf of Mexico. Herring fishermen, in the area near the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, have not seen the herring come back 22 years later. Offshore oil development is just not worth the risk.