Solidarity Halifax is working with the Campaign to Protect Offshore Nova Scotia (CPONS) to tackle the fact that BP is exploratory drilling off the coast of Sable Island.
Best known for the Deepwater Horizon disaster (the worst oil spill in history, which killed 11 workers, spilled for 87 days, halted fisheries and tourism operations along the US Gulf Coast, and referenced an emergency response plan developed for the Arctic), British Petroleum were operating off of the coast of NS for approximately 2 months before experiencing a substantial spillof drilling fluids. The well they intend to drill would be twice as deep as the Deepwater Horizon. In the case of a blowout, it would take 2-3 weeks to ship a cap from Norway.
The federal and provincial governments may be willing to sacrifice the fisheries and tourism industries of Nova Scotia’s South Shore for oil royalties, but we are not. CPONS is hoping to rally the South Shore municipalities to call for a public inquiry into the approval process and a moratorium in the interim, but public knowledge of the issue is lacking and poses a barrier to moving the campaign forward.
CPONS have yard signs ($7) and bumper stickers ($5) to increase public visibility and awareness.
Please contact them at southshore.coc@gmail.com if you’d like some.
For more on the subject, we recommend “Black Tide: The Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill” by Antonia Juhasz.
There will also be a panel on the subject in Halifax in early October, details TBA.