Taxpayers on hook in case of massive spill — environment commissioner

OTTAWA, February 5, 2013 (Straight Goods News) — Canada's Environment Commissioner says Canada is falling behind other countries and its own commitments on environment liabilities. Scott Vaughn issued his 2012 report, saying Canada does not clearly define who is responsible for cleanup bills in the case of pollution from oil spills and other work connected with resource development.

With a huge resource extraction boom under way, Vaughn feels decades-old legislation and limits need to be revisited. "It seems to me [to go] 35 years since the last time you actually looked at a liability limit is really pretty shocking," he said. Current limits set caps at a maximum of $30 million in coverage or less depending on the industry and region, but, as recent examples of US spills have shown, the cost can be in the billions. Canadian taxpayers could foot the bill for the difference in the case of a huge spill.

 

"What we hope is that we don’t see an environmental bust or by extension an economic bust," NDP environment critic Megan Leslie told a news conference. "We know from past reports that gaps on liability encourage risky behavior, environmental damage just becomes another budget line item." Leslie wants to see a system where Canada discourages cost cutting and encourages sound planning.

 

 

Leslie says the lack of accountability is ideologically driven. "We have seen time and time again this government actually cater legislative changes to the oil and gas industry while shutting out the concerns of environmental organizations and just regular communities across Canada."

 

Liberal Ted Hsu challenged the Conservatives to put changes in liability caps into a stand-alone bill.

 

 

Hsu sees a hypocrisy in Stephen Harper telling Canadians he is a good manager of the economy. "[The Conservative Government] can’t just be promoting natural resource development, it’s got to look at the sound management of environmental liabilities and risks. The two have to be done together."

 

Sierra Club Canada welcomed the report, which, it said in a release, "confirms the worst fears of Canadians: that the federal government is not providing environmental stewardship."

 

Sierra Club's executive director John Bennett said, "There is a pressing need to prepare to respond to oil spills on both the east and west coasts, the need to regulate the harmful fracking for natural gas, and the need to end the exemption of oil and gas companies from reporting pollution."