Recent talk of shipping oil though Churchill, Manitoba is raising some alarm bells.
Eric Reder of the Wilderness Committee says a report on a Manitoba government website says the idea is being looked at.
While the province hasn’t shown any willingness to adopt the measure, Heder says it is still a disturbing proposal.
He says it’s not clear whether the crude oil would be transported from the U.S. or the Alberta oilsands.
But he says any pipeline construction in the permafrost in northern Manitoba would be foolhardy:
“The ground is permanently frozen in winter time. Everything is frozen. But in the summer, there’s a layer that melts on top. Because of the permafrost there’s not proper roots and soils and there’s not proper drainage so the ground gets very unstable in summer time.”
Reder says the oil would have to be shipped out of the port to destinations overseas, but a spill in the bay would have devastating impacts on caribou and denning areas for polar bears.
He notes the country’s spill response headquarters is in Montreal and it would take 3 to 5 days to get equipment to the bay.
He adds the current in Hudson Bay also runs very fast.