by David Wiwchar
Ha-shilth-sa Newspaper
June 30, 2005
Ahaswinis - Only a handful of people came to Hupacasath Hall to hear about oil and gas drilling in coastal Alaska and find out what it means to BC.
The gathering, hosted by the Hupacasath First Nation and the Living Ocean Society, featured a pair of speakers from the Cook Inlet area near Anchorage, where offshore oil rigs pull thousands of barrels of oil from deep beneath the sea floor.
Despite the fact that all BC First Nations are opposed to the opening of offshore ol and gas exploration, and a majority of British Columbians share the same view, the BC Government seems committed to lifting the moratorium, which has prevented exploration.
"Our advice to the residents of Vancouver Island is to be prepared," said Bob Shavelson, executive director of the Cook Inlet Keepers. "You won't have the resources to deal with the impacts of this industry," he said.
According to Shavelson, the Cook Inlet oil and gas industry started out small, but within a decade expanded to 16 large huge offshore platforms, 1000 miles of onshore and offshore pipelines, and hundreds of toxic waste sites to deal with more than 2 billion gallons of toxic waste produced by the industry each year.
The Cook Inlet Keepers helped launch a lawsuit against the oil companies over 4200 violations of the Clean Water Act, resulting in a $2 million settlement.
"The lawsuit payments are just the cost of doing business for these companies," said Shavelson. "It's less expensive for them to pay the fines than it is to do the necessary work and put safeguards in place to protect the environment," he said.
According to Shavelson, Cook Inlet is the only place in the United States where oil companies are permitted to discharge harmful materials, and oil rigs produce thousands of tons of toxic drilling mud and cuttings, spills and leaks, and sewage.
"They have about one spill each month, but very few are reported because the industry is supposed to be self-policing," he said. "Meanwhile the Beluga whale population of Cook Inlet has decreased by 50% over the past ten years."
Speakers pointed to the Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster in 1989 as a 'worst-case scenario' of the industry.
"The oil spill changed our lives," said Violet Yeaton, Tribal Environmental Planner for the Port Graham Village Council. "When that spill happened, our traditional lifestyle ceased to exist. We still can't eat any shellfish species in our territory," she said.
On the opposite side of the Kenai Peninsula, hundreds of miles from Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound is still poisoned by much of the 20 million gallons of oil that spilled from the Exxon Valdez after it hit Bligh Reef 16 years ago, and Exxon still owes more than $5.5 billion from a subsequent lawsuit.
"The Exxon Valdez is a snapshot of corporate behavior," said Shavelson. "Their sole goal is to maximize profits. It's an unsustainable, boom-and-bust industry based on a non-renewable resource that is capital intensive and labour poor. They don't need a lot of people to work on these oil rigs. There's not many jobs out there, so there's little, if any benefits to local economies," he said.
Shavelson and Yeaton were on their way to the BC First Nations Summit meeting in Chilliwack, and stopped to speak with a few other BC First Nations along the way.
"It's
good to hear experiences of people, learn from them and be prepared,"
said Hupacasath Chief Councillor Judy Sayers. "I actually learned
a lot and will be using that info to prepare us for battle as need be.
This definately adds to my conviction to oppose offshore oil and gas developments,"
she said.
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