Seismic case in court
Federal Court of Appeal will review National Energy Board decision to allow testing off Baffin Island
Casey Lessard
Northern News Services
Saturday, April 18, 2015
TORONTO, ONT.
The big day has arrived.
North Baffin citizens protested proposed seismic testing in July. The Hamlet of Clyde River's appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal is being heard April 20 in Toronto. - NNSL file photo
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Clyde River Mayor Jerry Natanine is in Toronto to make the hamlet's case to Canada's Federal Court of Appeal that the National Energy Board should not have granted approval for seismic testing in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait.
For now, the testing agency has permission to start testing - involving extreme underwater sonic booms to determine where oil and gas reserves are - in the summer.
"Inuit have lived off of this land and these waters for centuries," stated Natanine, who could not be reached by phone, in a release. "The marine mammals in these waters are central to our way of life. They are our food and are integral to our culture. If the oil companies take that away, we'll have nothing left."
The Clyde River Solidarity Network, a group of 43 indigenous solidarity groups, social justice advocacy organizations, human rights advocacy groups, environmentalist organizations, and union working groups formed last month to back the appeal.
"It's just such a blatant disregard for Inuit wishes and basically indigenous people's self-determination," said solidarity network representative Warren Bernauer, a York University PhD student researching energy extraction in Nunavut. "The list of groups in Nunavut that signed off opposing this proposal was extensive before the National Energy Board approved it. Then you have a lot of opposition coming from the communities. There was wall-to-wall opposition and the NEB approved it anyway. They're not taking their concerns into consideration, and it's morally wrong."
Other groups are on board with opposition.
"It's precisely because of situations like that facing Clyde River that international human rights bodies have set out the requirement that decisions with the potential for serious impact on indigenous rights should only be made with the free, prior and informed consent," Amnesty International Canada's Craig Benjamin stated in a release.
The group will host a lunch-time demonstration in front of the Toronto courthouse April 20, with a seal meat, whale meat and Arctic char feast for supporters.
"It's important that the federal government sees that there are a lot of Canadians that support the principle of self-determination for indigenous people, and don't want to see this sort of development shoved down the throats of Inuit," Bernauer said. "If it happens, there should be substantial benefit to Inuit, and that's not what we see today. In terms of benefits, there are just a few marine mammal observer jobs for all of Baffin Island."
Energy board chairperson and CEO Peter Watson told Nunavut News/North in January that the board believes seismic testing is safe.
"The board's conclusion was there isn't a long-lasting impact associated with seismic, so that's the conclusion after looking at the evidence," Watson said at the time. "A big part of how we do this is to do things so we avoid or prevent interaction with marine mammals. Then we monitor a large safety zone, up to 500 metres from the source of airwaves, and we shut down if we see any interaction with marine mammals."
A release from Clyde River's legal representative argues the blasts are dangerous to mammals.
"At 230 decibels, these airguns are far louder than any sound known to most human beings -- about 100,000 times louder than a jet engine -- and they would repeat every 13 to 15 seconds, 24 hours a day, while operating," the statement reads. "Exposure to 140 decibels causes permanent hearing loss in humans."
People in Iqaluit can watch the court proceedings simulcast from Toronto at the Nunavut Court of Justice, courtroom 2, starting at 9:30 a.m. April 20.
