Following the Deepwater Horizon Macondo incident, the British
Petroleum blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, the government of
Newfoundland and Labrador commissioned an independent study into
the preparedness and ability of provincial agencies to respond to
an off-shore crisis. Captain Mark Turner, an expert in marine
safety and environmental management, was retained to assess the
current regulatory framework and the ability of the province to
respond to an incident.
Among the recommendations of the study, the report suggests the
need to increase the liability cap on compensation in the event of
a spill or blowout from the current Canadian law limits on
liability for damages from a spill of $40 million for Arctic water
and $30 million for spills on the eastern coast. The report also
advocates for the inclusion of regular audits performed by
independent third parties in order to add transparency to internal
findings of the regulators. Furthermore, the report recommended the
need for the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum
Board to design more detailed strategies aimed specifically at
blow-outs, and advocated for a "Total System" approach to
blowout control, management response and recovery.
Newfoundland & Labrador Natural Resource Minister Shawn Skinner
said the government supports all of the recommendations and is
prepared to work with the other provincial and federal agencies
that share responsibility for the oversight of off-shore drilling
and production activities.
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