IQALUIT - Concerns about spills and seismic testing dominated the evening information session of the National Energy Board's Arctic offshore drilling review in Iqaluit.

About 10 people attended the National Energy Board's evening information session in Iqaluit on Arctic offshore drilling on June 1. Some 30 people attended the afternoon session. The NEB is reviewing the safety and environmental requirements for offshore drilling. - Jeanne Gagnon/NNSL photo

The board, the organization responsible for regulating offshore drilling in the Canadian Arctic, is conducting a review of the safety and environmental requirements for offshore drilling in response to the April 2010 disaster in the Gulf of Mexico when a drilling platform exploded. This caused the death of 11 workers, the sinking of the rig and one of the largest oil spills in history.

Iqaluit was the third of four scheduled sessions for the board. Many of the concerns brought forward in Iqaluit were similar, if not exactly the same, as those heard in the Yukon and the Northwest Territories, said Brian Chambers, a northern advisor with NEB.

"Specifically, can drilling be done safely in an Arctic environment? What is the potential impact on marine resources, marine mammals, migratory seabirds, fish that migrate? There were more questions here about seismic activity than perhaps there were in Inuvik or in Whitehorse, where more of the questions focused on potential drilling activity and potential effects on the environment," he said.

He added Iqaluit's attendance at the sessions, about 40 people in total, was comparable to Inuvik.

Fewer people attended in Whitehorse.

During its presentation, the board said it had heard concerns on same-season relief well capability, spill response capability and infrastructure, training, compensation for Northern residents in the event of a spill, clean-up methods, costs and responsibility and the clarity of the roles of the different people involved, for instance.

In the report expected this December, the board might recommend potential changes to filing requirements for companies.

Randy Pittman attended the evening information session at the Anglican Parish Hall. Pittman, who works in Nunavut nine to 10 months of the year, does mostly fisheries training with the Nunavut Fisheries Training Consortium. He also worked in the offshore in the '80s and '90s.

He said worker safety was foremost in his mind during the NEB's presentation. He added the lack of infrastructure, such as having no search-and-rescue aircraft stationed in Iqaluit, and the increase in shipping activity are some of his concerns.

"A lot is still not known about what's happening at the bottom up here," he said. "I don't want to have another learning experience from a disaster. That would be terrible."

The board will have a round table in Inuvik in September.

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