“It’s ignorance. A lack of knowledge of what other countries have done in very similar circumstances," warns Dr. Robert Bea

Dr. Robert Bea, leader of the Deepwater Horizon Study Group and co-founder of the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management says the BP project comes with some alarming risks for Canada that show that lessons from past oil disasters haven't been learned.

“We need to benefit from our painful past,” warned Dr. Bea, referring to BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster, where he worked as a post-blowout investigator.

The Macondo well (Deepwater Horizon) spill was the largest marine oil spill in history and is estimated to have leaked around 3.19 million barrels of oil into the ocean for 87 consecutive days.

“Caution is warranted,” urged Dr. Bea.

Would other countries known for strict offshore drilling regulations have green-lighted a proposal like the one approved by Canada?

“No.” Dr. Bea's response is immediate. “And notice how quickly I came to that answer. There’s no way.”

Dr. Bea has worked with the oil and gas industry in all of the world's oceans except Antarctica. Photo by Robert Bea

The Berkley University Professor Emeritus has spent the past 64 years working in the oil industry and said that, based on his research, the BP project fails to pass an almost universally used test.

The test, based on a system developed by the U.K Health Safety Executive, is designed to determine whether a project meets the minimum threshold of 'As Low As Reasonably Practicable (ALARP).'

National Observer reached out to both BP Canada and the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board (CNSOPB), the regulatory body responsible for approving the project in Nova Scotia, to find out whether the proposal had been put through the test. Stacy O'Rourke, director of communication for CNSOPB, said "We take into consideration global industry standards used in similar operating environments," but would not provide a specific answer. BP Canada spokesperson Maureen Herchak encouraged National Observer to have a look at CNSOPB's website "to review at your convenience to understand the rigorous requirements that were satisfied to obtain approval."

National Observer's review of the site found no mention of ALARP or any similar tests.

How long would it take to stop a spill?

“The project poses a significant risk to our environment,” said Ecology Action Center marine conservation officer Travis Aten to National Observer.

Currently, Canada does not have a capping stack — the aforementioned yellow, tentacle clad, steel giant — an important piece of equipment that is used to cap an underwater well that is leaking oil into the ocean.

If any of BP Canada's deep-water wells spring a leak, like the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, Canada would have to transport the 130,790 kg capping stack from a warehouse in Stavanger, Norway.

“It would take a minimum 12 to 14 days to get that from Norway to here, and that's if the weather conditions are okay,” warns Aten.

The CNSOPB confirmed the length of the trans-Atlantic journey. However, the board stressed that the capping stack would only be needed in the "unlikely" case that the blowout preventer failed. Unfortunately, in the case of Deepwater Horizon, that's exactly what happened.

O'Rourke told National Observer the first step would be "the deployment of a remote operating vehicle to the ocean floor to latch on and manually activate the blowout preventer to seal the well and, if successful, would then negate the need for a capping stack."

In their own assessment, BP Canada predicts that the capping stack’s journey could take anywhere from 12-19 days based on weather conditions. Once on location, they claim it would take between 24 hours to 13 days to cap the well, resulting in a continuous underwater oil spill off Nova Scotia for up to 32 days.

Dr. Robert Bea sees BP Canada’s estimations as blithely “optimistic."

“It brings a chill to my blood," he said. "If there’s a blowout in the wintertime with the North Sea blowing and going, are we going to be able to get a capping stack from Norway to Halifax in 30 days? Hell, no.”

A capping stack, which is stored in Norway, is the second line of defence against a spill and would be used to seal the well if the blowout preventers fail. Photo by OSRL.

Correspondence between the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and BP Canada shows that the location of the capping stack in Norway was a concern to Canada's authorities, as well.

In two different documents in 2017, bureaucrats ask BP Canada why they can't keep a capping stack in Atlantic Canada instead of Norway to permit quicker emergency deployment:

Correspondence between the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency and BP Canada shows concern over the capping stack's storage location.

Somewhat incredibly, British Petroleum — less than a decade after causing the worst oil spill in world history — replied that capping equipment is "rarely (if ever) used." BP Canada further stated that because of the steps needed to prepare a well for a capping stack, “there is a low likelihood that changing the location of the primary capping stack would significantly reduce the total mobilization and installation duration.”

After BP's third response, the documents show that Canadian officials had stopped pushing for a capping stack to be stored locally in Eastern Canada.

National Observer asked numerous questions about the BP approval process and requested an interview with Minister McKenna through her ministry of Environment and Climate Change on several occasions in late April and early May, but did not receive answers to the questions before publication.

However, the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency provided a statement saying, "On February 1, 2018, the federal Minister of Environment and Climate Change determined the proposed Scotian Basin Exploration Drilling Project is not likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects and may proceed, in accordance with the legally enforceable conditions set out in the environmental assessment decision statement."

What about drilling a 'relief well?'

A capping stack is used to treat blowouts at the sea floor but if there is a leak lower down, BP Canada would need to drill a relief well, a process that they predict would take 165 days.

Again, Dr. Bea found that BP Canada had quoted best-case-scenario numbers.

“It’s a reasonable estimate if you had a drill rig nearby but if you have to bring the rig from someplace else, then no [it would take much longer].”

On April 26, National Observer asked BP Canada if they had a second drill rig on location but the company did not provide an answer.

Dr. Bea believes the project was approved due to a lack of experience in dealing with offshore drilling in Canada.

“It’s ignorance,” he warned. “It’s a lack of knowledge of what other countries have done in very similar circumstances."