Skip to content
The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper

The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper

Title

Name

Primary Menu
  • Home
  • Mindanao
  • Visayas
  • National
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • International
  • SciTech
  • Health & Wellness
  • Sports
  • About Us
    • Regional Advertising Rates
    • Contact Us
    • Profile
  • Home
  • International
  • Offshore drilling could detonate unexploded bombs, expert warns – Herald Business
  • Featured
  • International

Offshore drilling could detonate unexploded bombs, expert warns – Herald Business

Editor November 12, 2015

Deepwater offshore drilling by the energy sector has a Sydney expert flagging the threat of munitions dumped off the coast of Nova Scotia.

“The exploration companies are drilling deeper than ever before and, back in the day, these same deep waters were selected by authorities for disposal of unexploded ordnance,” Terry Long, owner of Wentworth Environmental Inc. in Sydney, said in an interview Tuesday.

Long said drilling could potentially detonate an unexploded bomb, or rupture a canister filled with dangerous chemicals.

He has credentials when it comes to risks associated with munitions dumped off the coast of Atlantic Canada and in ocean waters around the world. His business specializes in removalof underwater ordnance, and he founded and chairs the International Dialogue on Underwater Munitions.

Authorities have long been aware of the potential risks of undersea munitions dumps in Atlantic Canada. They number more than 3,000 between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, according to various sources.

The dumps are comprised mostly of unexploded bombs and unused chemicals from the first and second world wars.

Long said the munitions risk escalated as drilling rigs headed into deeper waters to search for oil. In this province, Shell Canada Ltd. is drilling in the Shelburne Basin, and BP is expected to begin drilling in 2017, after completing seismic work in 2014.

“There is a need for some constructive discussion on how best to mitigate the risk of these munitions,” Long said.

He said he is writing a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to raise his concern about the energy sector proceeding with inadequate assessments of undersea munitions dumps near drilling rigs.

However, a spokeswoman for the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board said there are extensive protocols in place relating to a range of undersea hazards, including unexploded ordnance.

The existence of dump sites has been recognized and accepted as part of assessments of offshore drilling programs since the 1960s, said Kathleen Funke, with the board in Halifax.

“Long before drilling occurs there are consultations with the Department of National Defence regarding unexploded ordnance,” Funke said.

Risk assessments of unexploded ordnance are part of required hazard surveys, she said.

“There is potential for ordnance to be an issue anywhere offshore and particularly in Nova Scotia, with our military history,” she said.

Funke said that in the case of the Shell program, undersea hazards would have been identified by a 3D seismic survey conducted in 2013. She said there were also assessments conducted with remote underwater vehicles equipped with high-definition cameras.

“If there were any issues, they would have been uncovered by these sophisticated technologies,” she said.

Shell has the exploration vessel Stena IceMax drilling offshore, about 250 kilometres from Shelburne.(BILL POWER)

Link: http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/1321948-offshore-drilling-could-detonate-unexploded-bombs-expert-warns

fb-share-icon
Tweet 20

Continue Reading

Previous: Kurds launch offensive to take Sinjar from ISIS – CNN News
Next: Google is considering building its own smartphone from scratch – Fox News

Related News

Hacker by Tima
  • International

South Korea’s largest telecom operator suffers mass exodus of customers over data leak

Editor June 2, 2025
Bountiful-harvest
  • Featured
  • Mindanao Post

Aquaponics to conservation: How a young farmer is growing change

Editor May 28, 2025
BLT-1
  • Business
  • Featured

Joy of Sharing: Jollibee Group Foundation Marks 20 Years of Impactful Partnerships and Progress

Editor May 22, 2025

Trending News

PH mangoes land in Rome in bid to win over Italian market Mango1 1
  • Business
  • National

PH mangoes land in Rome in bid to win over Italian market

June 3, 2025
DOTr orders closure, raps vs. AirAsia Move over excessive air fares AirAsia-MOVE-app 2
  • National

DOTr orders closure, raps vs. AirAsia Move over excessive air fares

June 2, 2025
DOT assures Korean community of strengthened tourist safety measures Seo-In-Guk-&-Christina-Frasco 3
  • National
  • Tourism

DOT assures Korean community of strengthened tourist safety measures

June 2, 2025
SSS welcomes UnionDigital Bank President and CEO – talks about partnership opportunities for micro lending, for overseas Filipinos, and for transfer of technology uniondigital-bank 4
  • National

SSS welcomes UnionDigital Bank President and CEO – talks about partnership opportunities for micro lending, for overseas Filipinos, and for transfer of technology

June 2, 2025
South Korea’s largest telecom operator suffers mass exodus of customers over data leak Hacker by Tima 5
  • International

South Korea’s largest telecom operator suffers mass exodus of customers over data leak

June 2, 2025
  • Facebook
  • X
  • YouTube
  • Blog
Copyright © 2025. The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper. All Rights Reserved. | MoreNews by AF themes.