Taxpayers could be stuck with bill in event of oil spill

By

OTTAWA (NEWS1130) – A new report finds you, the taxpayer, could be on the hook for a big clean up bill if there’s an oil spill.

An audit by the Environment Commissioner finds Canada’s laws and regulations haven’t kept pace with its booming resource sector.

It finds companies pitch in to a contingency fund in case something goes wrong, like an oil spill or a nuclear meltdown. But there’s a cap on that fund, and if it doesn’t cover the clean up cost, the federal government has to pay the difference.

Christianne Wilhemson with the Georgia Strait Alliance says it’s something people in BC need to keep think about as they consider the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline project.

“One of the things he focused on was oil spill response on the East Coast, where the oil and gas industry has been active with off-shore oil and gas for quite a long time and he identified a lot of the things that are lacking, which we have raised as concerns here in British Columbia,” she tells us.

“We now have rivers, lakes, oceans [and] land that are being sacrificed for short-term profit,” she adds.

The report also questions whether you’re adequately protected from the 200,000 fracking wells in the country, many of which are here in BC.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today