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TUKTOYAKTUK
An offshore drilling proposal in the Beaufort Sea expected to come from Imperial Oil this summer has some people in the Beaufort Delta worried.

That was the message coming out of a series of meetings between members of the National Energy Board and people in Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk last week.

While no one disputed the region could benefit economically from the project, few were happy with the prospect of an environmental disaster in such a remote and ecologically-sensitive area.

As one unidentified spectator put it during a meeting between the board and the local hunters and trappers, "We can use the benefits but we can't afford a blowout."

Other people, such as Sherry Gruben, a Grade 10 student from Tuktoyaktuk, were simply against the idea.

"What I wanted to say is that it's not right drilling on the land. It's too important to us. The land and drum dancing is all that we have to remember our ancestors. The life they had before us wasn't easy but it was peaceful. That's why we stand up to protect our land."

She also criticized the format of the meeting, saying it wasn't conducive to encouraging youth participation.

"We're just too shy to say (anything)," she said after the meeting. "If you talked to us individually it will make a big difference. People and youth will speak up. We wouldn't let the land get polluted."

"If they do the drilling then I wouldn't (want to) live here and watch the place that I love get torn down. When I have kids, I want them to learn how to hunt and cut caribou up, to live the life that my Mom taught me."

Hayden Stewart, another Tuktoyaktuk student who is in Grade 11, shared similar concerns.

"We need a very cautious view," Stewart said.

Tuktoyaktuk Mayor Merven Gruben also expressed concerns about the risk the drilling poses. He was unhappy the first meetings and public consultations were held in Inuvik, which he said made it difficult for people from the village to attend.

"The meetings should be here," he said. "We're the ones who will be affected, not Inuvik, which is upstream."

If the meetings aren't going to be held in Tuktoyaktuk, then Imperial Oil should pay for residents to travel to them, he added.

Gaetan Caron, the chair of the National Energy Board, said he expects Imperial Oil to file an application for an offshore drilling permit this summer. If approved, drilling would likely start in 2020.

Due to the conditions in the Beaufort Sea, work would only be possible for three months in the summer.

Caron and other board members told the various groups that Imperial Oil has already acknowledged it could take a year or more to address any problems such as a blowout, due to the limited drilling season.

That didn't sit well with the various groups, who repeatedly emphasized the need for multiple backup plans and options to contain any spills, other than relying on dispersion and perhaps the same type of bacteria used in the Gulf of Mexico during its enormous oil spill in 2010.

Caron said all questions of that type should be officially filed with the board. Anyone registering with the board could also put a formal notice in writing when such questions haven't been resolved to their satisfaction.

Details about how to submit questions to the National Energy Board can be found on its website by clicking the "public participation" link.

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