Newfoundland oil spill could have larger impact on wildlife than larger Gulf spill

An oil spill off the coast of Newfoundland has the potential to have a far greater impact on the wildlife in the area than a larger spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Gail Fraser, associate professor at York University, told delegates of the Property Casualty Underwriters Club (PCUC) Luncheon.

Fraser outlined some key differences between the Gulf of Mexico and the Grand Banks. One is the sea surface temperature, which in the Gulf of Mexico is upwards of 20 C, whereas the water temperature in the Grand Banks ranges from 10 to 15 C.

“That’s a striking difference between the two systems and this has implications,” Fraser said. “In cold water, oil takes longer to break down.

“It persists longer and subsequently it is more available to interact with wildlife. If you spend time washing dishes and if you try to wash a really greasy pan in cold water, you know it doesn’t really work. In warm water, the oil will break down much quicker.”

To illustrate her point, Fraser pointed to wildlife populations in both areas. She compared the estimated death tolls of sea birds as a result of the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the Terra Nova spill in the Grand Banks in 2004.

The Deepwater Horizon spill flowed for three months in the spring of 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico and released about 4.9-million barrels of crude oil.

The Terra Nova project in the Grand Banks, about 350 kilometres off the coast of Newfoundland, had a spill that lasted for about 24 hours in 2004 and spilled about 1,000 barrels of oil. “It was a relatively small spill,” Fraser said.

The immediate impact of the Deepwater Horizon blowout – the information is not confirmed, she said – is an estimated 21,000 to 81,000 direct kills of sea birds resulting from contact with the spilled oil.

Terra Nova, a much smaller spill in comparison, resulted in an estimated 10,000-16,000 direct kills of birds.

“This is an example of the differences in how oil pollution plays out in the different environments,” Fraser said. “In a cold water situation, birds are much more vulnerable to oil spills. In a warm water environment, the situation plays out very differently and the mortality rates are likely to be lower.”