HALIFAX—A group of a dozen Nova Scotia municipalities is urging the federal and provincial governments to suspend offshore oil and gas exploration and launch a public inquiry into its associated risks.

Between June 2018 and this past September, councils from the municipalities — including Mahone Bay, Digby, Lunenburg and Bridgewater — voted in favour of calling for the moratorium and inquiry, and two council members brought the campaign to Halifax on Tuesday.

Mahone Bay Mayor David Devenne and Digby County deputy warden Linda Gregory told a news conference they aren’t outright opposed to offshore petroleum industry activity near their shores, but they want assurances before any new projects are green-lit.

Devenne said the ocean feeds the tourism industry in Mahone Bay, and “any risk to that mainstay of our economy is an unacceptable possibility.”

“Offshore drilling is just such a risk.”

Gregory said her community’s main concern is the health of its fishing industry, without which “there would be nothing left for us.” She said she wants a provincewide moratorium on offshore petroleum exploration until a fulsome investigation into the potential impact is done.

The municipalities are making the same request as an ongoing campaign by the Offshore Alliance — a coalition of fisher, social justice and environmental organizations.

Nova Scotia Minister of Energy and Mines Derek Mombourquette said in a phone interview he’s aware of the calls, but his department isn’t considering a moratorium, believing in opportunities for job creation and provincial revenue from future projects.

His department, under the Liberal government of Stephen McNeil, committed in 2018 to put $11.8 million over four years into an “offshore growth strategy.”

The goal of that investment, according to the province’s energy business plan from last year, is to “generate new insight” into offshore petroleum deposits, attract new investment and prepare the local supply chain “for increased offshore oil and gas activity.”

Mombourquette said his department also isn’t considering an inquiry of the kind requested by the municipalities and the Offshore Alliance. But, he added, his department’s research into offshore resource extraction is always done through a “lens” of balancing the economy and the environment.

There aren’t any offshore projects ongoing in the waters around Nova Scotia, after Exxon Mobil’s Sable project and Encana’s Deep Panuke project were both retired in 2018, and there are no proposals before the regulator for new ventures.

There are three existing licences, including one secured by BP in a $1-billion bid in 2012, but the petroleum giant gave up half of its area rights earlier this year after failing to find any commercially viable stores.

The Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board acts as the regulator on behalf of the province, issuing licences to explore and drill for offshore resources.

Last month, the board released a strategic environmental assessment of the potential adverse impacts of oil and gas exploration in an area deemed to have exploration potential. The study focused primarily on the central Scotian Shelf, which sits off the Atlantic Coast of the province.

The report, written for the board by engineering firm Stantec, notes that the study area is a known habitat for several animal species with endangered, threatened or special conservation status, and is on the path of protected migratory birds.

It’s also used “heavily” by invertebrate and groundfish fisheries and houses at least 10 areas designated as protected or ecologically sensitive.

The assessment considered routine exploration activities — such as seismic testing, seabed surveys, exploratory drilling and increased vessel and helicopter traffic — as well as “accidental events,” including spills and blowouts.

The study, which relies exclusively on existing knowledge and literature (the authors didn’t conduct any new research), notes that all activities associated with exploration could affect the marine environment. Animals could be displaced, physically harmed or killed, and fisheries could be impacted by a narrowing of their grounds.

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The report also notes that “data gaps and uncertainties exist with respect to understanding potential environmental effects of exploration activities on marine species.”

Still, the authors recommend that with “diligent regulatory compliance” and thorough risk assessment before new projects launch, adverse environmental impacts “are not anticipated.”

They say a “precautionary approach” to oil and gas exploration should be taken.

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