Special Report: Newfoundland Oil Spill Largest in Province's History - Part I
December 13, 2018

Update - 3/2/2019: We have written an update to Part I of our report on the spill of 250,000 liters of oil at the SeaRose offshore oil rig in the White Rose oilfield off the coast of Newfoundland on November 16, 2018. We have included information on Husky Energy's plan to retrieve the broken flowline connector that is responsible for the spill, the restarting of oil production in the area and the future of offshore oil development in Newfoundland. The second part of our report can be found here: Special Report: Newfoundland Oil Spill Largest in Province's History - Part II

Husky Energy released this image of the connector pipe being blamed for the spill
credit: Husky Energy

The largest oil spill in the history of the province of Newfoundland occurred 217 miles off the southeast coast of Saint John's, the capital of Newfoundland, on November 16, 2018. It happened at the SeaRose offshore oil rig owned by Husky Energy in the White Rose oilfield as they attempted to restart production during a brutal storm. Production had been shut down the day before on the 15th due to the storm, which was noted as being the most intense storm on the planet at that time, but the company recklessly and irresponsibly tried to start it back up even though there were still 28 foot high waves.

The wind and waves were strong enough that the island was actually shaking. John Cassidy, an earthquake seismologist with Natural Resources Canada stated, "What we saw over the past 48 hours was quite a dramatic change in [activity]," adding, "It was very noticeable and in our seismic data, our plots, it just jumped off the page. You could just see that shaking." Husky Energy estimated that 250,000 liters of oil leaked from a broken connector on a flowline that links the oil rig to a drilling site at the oilfield. That number should be viewed with caution though and could be revised to potentially be higher once the investigation is complete. No other offshore oil rig operators in the area tried to start up again while the seas were still that rough, putting Husky's decision to do so even further in the spotlight now. Due to the spill, the Canadian-Newfoundland & Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) temporarily required offshore oil operators to get permission to restart production - a decision that comes much too late and should already have been in place through permanent, binding legislation instead of a temporary decision by the C-NLOPB.

The fact that the government does not require offshore oil platforms to shut down during certain weather conditions and seek permission before restarting is a glaring problem that those of us just learning about for the first time have been very much disturbed by. Underwater ROV's have been deployed to check the rest of the system and production is still shut down but this is something that simply should not have happened in the first place. The CBC stated in an article that, "Each oil production company in Newfoundland's offshore makes its own decisions on when they shut down and start up amid rugged seas. They are bound by legislation to develop safety plans for such situations and are required to follow those plans at all times." The legislation requires them to develop a plan but it's up to the company to police themselves. This is unacceptable and must change as these companies cannot be in charge of their own safety regulations. Siobhan Coady, the province's Minister of Natural Resources, stated "If they did everything according to protocol, then we need to change the protocol." The CBC reported that her department is investigating how the C-NLOPB handled the response to the spill and 'whether it has enough authority to tell oil companies what to do.' The fact that they might not have enough authority over the industry they are supposed to be in charge of proves that regulations and laws are sorely in need of upgrades.

Two oil sheens were seen shortly after the spill but workers couldn't even attempt a cleanup due to the terrible weather conditions and now the oil is most likely spread out to the point that it can't even be cleaned up as as no oil sheens were spotted on Monday or Tuesday. Over the weekend they were also unable to even confirm the extent of the spill or what caused it due to the weather. They finally found out that the broken connector on the flowline was the cause on Monday the 19th, three days after the spill. Husky reported that subsea ROV surveys were suspended due to bad conditions on the 24th, 25th and 29th. They also reported that, "wildlife observation surveys concluded on Wednesday, November 28th."

Husky Energy had a near-miss with an iceberg in March of 2017 when they refused to disconnect the rig as the iceberg approached even though there were 84 people and at least 340,000 barrels of crude oil on board at the time. An investigation found that the company failed to even follow its own ice management plan and that they made the decision for financial reasons. The C-NLOPB did suspend their license for that but only for nine days back in January of this year - 10 months after the iceberg incident. However, reporting from the CBC in Canada showed that the C-NLOPB was also found to have 'advised Husky on how to publicly frame its decision in a positive light'.

This recent spill has broken the previous record from 2004 when a malfunction on the Terra Nova oil rig caused a spill nearly 14 years ago to the day of this latest spill. The original estimates said about 40,000 liters had been released into the ocean but 'it’s possible that as much as 170,000 liters was actually spilled'. Bad weather also severely hampered the response to that spill as well, a clear sign that oil drilling in such a volatile area is dangerous as cleaning up oil is difficult and sometimes impossible in bad conditions. The press secretary for Amarjeet Sohi, the Natural Resources Minister in the federal Cabinet, stated after the recent spill at the SeaRose, "Canada has a robust regulatory system for all offshore oil and gas activities that prioritizes safety, protection of the environment, and responsible management of our petroleum resources." This is not true as Canada is not prepared to handle oil spills of this nature and regulations to keep the industry in check are clearly lacking if the company could decide on their own to restart production with waves nearly as high as a three story building still occurring in the area.

Effect on Seabirds

One of the largest concerns is what is happening to the seabirds that live in the waters off Newfoundland. Species such as murres, dovekies and the iconic Atlantic puffins - the latter of which have been recently listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN and as being threatened with extinction in BirdLife International's 2018 State of the World's Birds report - all inhabit the area in large numbers and there is great concern for their safety. "This is perhaps the worst time of year for an oil spill to occur with respect to seabirds," said Gail Fraser, a biologist at York University who specializes in maritime seabirds. "There are literally millions of [them] that move down from the Arctic. They’re there in really high densities and they are highly vulnerable to even small amounts of oil pollution."

A group of thick-billed murres on a ledge in Scandinavia
credit: Ron Knight via Wikimedia. full album available on Flickr

They can die if even a small amount of oil gets onto them as the oil allows the cold water to penetrate the birds' thick plumage and induce hypothermia. St John's seabird researcher Ian Jones stated, "A blob about the size of this nickel here, getting onto the breast of one of these birds, is gonna immediately stick to the feathers, and compromise their ability to insulate, and the bird will die". According to Jones, "just one drop from an eyedropper of the petroleum mixture can cause a dovekie to die of hypothermia in a matter of days" and that a teaspoon could kill a murre, a species that waits until they're much older to breed and only lays one egg at a time meaning that deaths from oil spills can cause significant harm to their population in the long-term. He also says that sometimes the damage isn't visible as the coat may look untouched, "but there might be a bird inside horribly suffering."

On November 19th the C-NLOPB stated, "4 oiled seabirds observed, one of which may be retrieved for cleaning." However, on the same day Husky Energy stated that five oiled seabirds were confirmed so we're unsure of why there was a discrepancy. On November 20th the C-NLOPB reported that the number jumped, stating that "14 oiled seabirds have been sighted. Three have been recovered and are being transported to the Seabird Rehabilitation Centre in St. John’s." There was no word on the other ten so we have to assume that when they were sighted that those who saw them were unable to retrieve them, making their prognosis grim. On November 21st the number rose to 15 and Husky Energy reported, "Of the 15, 3 birds are being transported to shore for treatment; 2 will be treated, 1 is deceased. The 3 include a thick-billed murre, an unknown species of murre and an unidentified species. An additional 2 common murres are currently being treated at the centre." They misspoke when saying that three were being transported 'for treatment' when one of the birds was already deceased but the C-NLOPB backed up these numbers and stated that four birds were either being treated or were going to be.

The numbers stayed the same on November 22nd but by the 23rd the number had risen to 18 birds with Husky reporting, "Of the 18, 4 are at the seabird rehabilitation centre in St. John's and 4 (3 petrels and 1 murre) are deceased." This still leaves 10 as going unretrieved and 50% of the retrieved birds dying. That number held on the 24th but on the 25th Husky reported, "Of the 18, 3 are being treated at the seabird rehabilitation centre in St. John's and 5 (3 petrels and 2 murre) are deceased; a Great Black Backed Gull recovered at the Henry Goodrich Friday, November 24 was not oiled by the release, but brought to rehabilitation centre for treatment." This means that one of the murres that was being treated on the 23rd and 24th has died. On December 3rd they reported that, "Two murres and a Great Black Backed Gull (recovered from Henry Goodrich but not oiled) have been transferred to a long-term rehabilitation centre for further recovery." On the 4th, "Two Thick Billed Murres were released back into the wild last night from the supply vessel Atlantic Hawk about 50km outside St. John's harbour. The two murres had been recovered during the spill and were rehabilitated. On the 5th, "An oiled murre was discovered on the supply vessel Atlantic Heron when it arrived in St. John's on December 4th and was brought to the seabird treatment center but they reported on December 10th that the murre had died over the weekend. They also reported that there are no other birds at the center.

There are some discrepancies though such as their report on November 25th of 18 birds with 10 going unrecovered, 3 recovering at the treatment center and 5 dying (with the Great Black Backed Gull not being oiled and not being counted as part of the 18). Then, reporting on December 3rd that two murres, along with the gull, were going to a long-term rehabilitation center and then saying that two murres were released back into the wild just the next day. If these were 2 of the three birds from that original count of 18 and they were going to another center, how come they were released the next day and what happened to the other bird? If they weren't from the group of three at the center, why weren't they originally counted? At any rate, with three birds recovering (again, not including the gull) and only two being released - with Husky saying there are now no birds at the center - there is either a problem with their math or their statement. We hope that the C-NLOPB and any other regulators looking into the spill are able to see more detailed records than we are able to see and are hoping they simply misspoke in their statement.

According to Husky, 19 oiled birds have been seen: 10 going unrecovered, 6 dying and 3 being saved. With about half going unrecovered and two out of three of the recovered birds dying, it further proves that these birds are extremely vulnerable to oil spills and that even with help, many end up dying. It's absolutely tragic that these birds died due to human greed and an outdated, unnatural addiction to fossil fuels. Still, nineteen birds may seem low considering the amount of oil spilled but Gail Fraser cautioned, "The fact that they have found oiled birds means that there’s probably a lot more oiled birds out there." and goes on to say, "We’re not going to see dead birds on land. There’s no graphic images to grab the public to help them realise how important the impact of this spill could be."

The 2004 Terra Nova spill that released 170,000 liters of oil resulted in the deaths of between 10,000 and 12,000 seabirds, Fraser said. And though the numbers of birds found so far may seem low, Jones says even a few sightings right now could indicate catastrophic mortality. The estimate for this latest spill is still in the making but biologists have said that as many as 100,000 seabirds, primarily murres and dovekies, risk hypothermia and poisoning in the wake of the spill. To make matters worse, seabirds reproduce slowly and have few offspring so a large amount of deaths from an oil spill can have a devastating, long-term impact on them. Jones stated, "They just can't handle mortality", "A loss of 10,000 or 100,000 seabirds is huge damage to a seabird population." The bad conditions, in addition to preventing them from doing a full damage assessment, also hampered any efforts to locate and rescue any seabirds that were injured. The birds are relatively small and with the affected areas being offshore in rough seas, getting an accurate count of the death toll is very difficult. The Globe and Mail reported that, "Syncrude Canada was fined $3 million in 2008 when more than 1,600 ducks were killed after landing in an Alberta tailings pond. By comparison, Petro-Canada was fined $290,000 for the Terra Nova spill believed to have killed 10,000 birds." $29 per bird. That appears to be the price of doing business in the oil industry on the east coast of Canada. For some context, the provincial government earns about $200,000 per day in royalties from oil production on the SeaRose. That's just the cut for the government, for one day, so if Husky eventually got a fine of $290,000, like Petro-Canada did, that would only be about 1.5 days worth of royalty payments.

There has not been much visual evidence released by Husky Energy which is very concerning. As of the 22nd, almost a full week since the spill, only one photo was released publicly - an image of the leaking pipe being blamed for the spill. CBC News reported that they requested access to Husky's bird rehabilitation center, "but a spokesperson for the company said only medical personnel may be admitted while birds stabilize." This makes us concerned about the possibility that they want to fully control the images from the spill in an attempt to put themselves in a good light. It would be much better for them if they can release pictures later of any birds they manage to save instead of showing pictures of injured birds. In the interest of transparency we call on them to allow pictures to be taken.

Effect on North Atlantic Right Whales

A major concern we have is the potential effect on North Atlantic right whales and the other species of whales that inhabit the waters of the northwestern Atlantic. The World Wildlife Fund stated in a press release on the oil spill that, 'Oil adheres to and damages marine mammals’ skin, eyes and breathing holes. Inhalation of oil’s volatile and toxic components causes respiratory system damage and consumption of oil or oil-soaked prey causes gastrointestinal damage. Eye, skin and mucus-membrane damage can also result from contact with oil.' North Atlantic right whales have been going further north in recent years, largely moving from the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia to the western Gulf of St. Lawrence - traversing the Laurentian Channel between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland to do so. There were 31 possible and 25 definite acoustic detections of North Atlantic right whales from November 16th to December 12th in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and there were two definite sightings of right whales off the coast of Newfoundland in 2017, with multiple sightings that year off the northern coast of Nova Scotia and the eastern Gulf of St. Lawrence.

There were many more sightings in other areas such as Cape Cod Bay, the Bay of Fundy and the western Gulf of St. Lawrence but there have been active surveys in those areas for the past two years that pick up more whales. As right whales move further north, it's not surprising they have been seen off Newfoundland and it's certainly possible there are more using that area. We hope that researchers will conduct more surveys off the Newfoundland coast so that we can get a better idea of how many of these whales spend time in the area. Researchers believe that they used to spend summers on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland so this is an area that this species has used for awhile. North Atlantic right whales have also been seen off the coast of Iceland over the years and one, Mogul (#3845), was seen there this year. When they go to Iceland we believe that they are most likely passing close to Newfoundland in the process as most of their sightings are relatively close to shore and not in the open ocean.

NOAA's most recent 5-year report on North Atlantic right whales from 2017 states, "If drilling activities are allowed to occur in the future, there may be consequent adverse effects to the right whale population by vessel movements, noise, spills, or effluents. These activities (energy exploration and development) may possibly result in disturbance of the whales or their prey, and/or disruption of the habitat." It appears that they were talking about possible future oil drilling on the East Coast of the United States - something that had been largely blocked but now, in some terrifying recent developments, their efforts are seeing some success. However, it's clear that the oil industry in Canada also presents a major threat to these whales, especially as they move further north.

The World Wildlife Fund also listed the following species of whales and dolphins that live off the coast of Newfoundland and could be at risk from the spill; Humpbacks, Sperm whales, Blue whales, Minke whales, Orcas, Belugas, Pilot whales, Bowheads, Right and Finback whales along with White-beaked and Atlantic white-sided dolphins, and Harbour porpoises - along with many species of zooplankton that whales need to survive.

The oil industry presents a major threat to these whales and clearly the regulations and laws supposedly governing the offshore oil industry in Canada are woefully outdated and are not up to the job of helping to protect the ocean and all of the species that reside there. Sigrid Kuehnemund, WWF-Canada’s vice president of oceans conservation stated in a press release, "A spill like this is exactly the reason WWF-Canada has been calling for better offshore oil and gas regulations in general, from spill prevention through to response, for an extension of the moratorium on new oil and gas licences in the Arctic, and for a complete ban on industrial development in marine protected areas of all kinds." She added, "This isn’t the first incident in the Atlantic offshore industry. We need a modern regulatory regime that prioritizes environmental protection, with stronger oversight from the offshore petroleum board and stricter consequences for not following environmental protocols. We also need independent observers on both rigs and floating production storage and offloading vessels like the SeaRose to monitor for adherence to protocols and impact on seabirds and other wildlife."

We fully support this statement but we also believe that there should be a ban on any new oil or gas licenses anywhere off the coast of Canada and the United States along with a ban on any activity associated with oil drilling such as seismic blasting. The oil industry is unnaturally extracting toxic fuels from the earth, causing significant damage to the entire planet, it's climate and the species that reside here. There must be a rapid switch to renewable energy that happens alongside of a rapid abandonment of fossil fuels - North Atlantic right whales and all the other species that have called the oceans home for millenia deserve nothing less and don't have much more time for us to wait around.

To find out more about how you can help North Atlantic right whales, please visit our Action section. We list many ways you can help, including tips on how to lower your energy consumption and use less fossil fuels.

Sources:

Newfoundland minister demands answers from Husky after huge offshore oil spill - CBC

Newfoundland spill shows Canada not prepared for oil disasters at sea: Sierra Club - iPolitics

Newfoundland oil spill larger than first thought - The Globe and Mail

Most intense storm on the planet pounding Newfoundland and Labrador, say officials - CBC

Seismic records show Newfoundland was literally shaking from wind and waves - CBC

Newfoundland's largest-ever oil spill is now impossible to clean up - Financial Post

After massive oil spill, spotlight shifts to agency regulating N.L. offshore industry - CBC

Biologist fears extent of seabird mortality may grow after Newfoundland’s largest-ever oil spill - The Globe and Mail

Environment advocates critical of secrecy over Newfoundland’s largest-ever oil spill - Global News

Think few reported oiled seabirds is good news? Not so fast, says MUN biologist - CBC

Investigation shows Husky's decision not to move out of iceberg's path in close call 'economically driven' - CBC