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Two rocky cliffs create a bridge over a large body of water.

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Newfoundland and Labrador
Victory

We’re protecting the Gulf of St. Lawrence from oil drilling

David Suzuki Foundation, et al. v. Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board

May 16, 2017

The Old Harry oil and gas prospect lies on the border between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The marine area is biologically rich, providing habitat for more than 4,000 species (including species at risk like blue and beluga whales, and the leatherback sea turtle). The Gulf serves as a migration route for wild Atlantic salmon and is a food source for surrounding First Nations.

Despite the significance the Old Harry region plays for species and the surrounding communities, Corridor Resources was granted an exploratory licence for oil and gas exploration in the area in 2008.

In the years since then, Corridor Resources has been unable to cover exploration costs on its own and has not completed an environmental assessment or received regulatory approvals necessary to start oil drilling. Under Canadian law, exploratory licences for oil and gas drilling cannot exceed nine years.

On January 14, 2017, Corridor’s licence expired. The following day, the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board reissued Corridor Resources’ licence.

In 2017, we helped our clients file a lawsuit alleging that the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board unlawfully granted Corridor Resources another offshore drilling licence after time ran ran out on its first one in January 2017.

Oil and gas exploration poses significant risks to the local environment, species and the surrounding communities. If a spill, leak or mechanical failure were to occur in the marine environment it is extremely difficult to clean-up. This is particularly true for marine environments with ice cover.

The Gulf has, at various points, more than 80 per cent ice cover. A spill in this environment would further complicate a recovery – or make it virtually impossible. We only need to look as far as the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to understand the long lasting effects exploration errors can have — many of which are still being felt today.

Corridor Resources’ project was no different. During the early stages of the Old Harry environmental assessment process, the company demonstrated a lack of preparedness, including by failing to provide sufficient information to address concerns about the project’s environmental impacts, whether it be the exploration itself, or a spill.

Exploration licence term limits are meant to ensure that companies don’t sit on their rights forever — but they also play an important role in protecting the environment from rights-holders who lack the capacity or technology to drill safely.

We represented members from Sierra Club Canada Foundation, Attention FragÎles, Nature Québec, David Suzuki Foundation and SNAP-Québec in this legal challenge to protect the Gulf of St. Lawrence from the risks posed by offshore drilling and to ensure that oil exploration licence limits are enforced by government.

On July 3, 2020, the Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court handed down a landmark victory that confirmed that the offshore petroleum board was wrong to extend Corridor Resources’ licence beyond its legal term limit. (David Suzuki Foundation, et al. v. Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board, 2018 NLSC 146.)

What does this victory mean?

This is a major win for the Gulf of St. Lawrence and other sensitive marine ecosystems across the country — such as the Beaufort Sea where the federal government has proposed similar dodgy licence extensions for companies.

The court’s ruling confirms that the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board lacked the authority to extend Corridor Resources’ licence in the first place and means that no company can permanently obtain a right to explore at its leisure. The ruling also confirmed that if companies cannot pass an environmental assessment and consult Indigenous Peoples within a specified time, their licence will expire.

Jul 2020
An adult whale and a calf come up from the water for air.
press release

STATEMENT: NL court hands down landmark victory for protection of Gulf of St. Lawrence

Court confirms that NL Offshore Petroleum Board was wrong to extend Corridor Resources’s exploration licence St.
Jan 2020
2 whales come out of the water for air.
blog

Bye bye: Offshore drilling licence in the Gulf of St. Lawrence expires

We’re excited to share that Corridor Resources’ license for oil and gas exploration for the Old Harry prospect in the Gulf of St.
Feb 2019
An adult whale and a calf come up from the water for air.
blog

Offshore drilling in Canada: We’re in court to defend the Gulf of St. Lawrence

Ecojustice is in court this week because the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board (C-NLOPB) acted unlawfully when it renewed an exploration licence in 2017.
Jul 2018
A rocky cliff is covered in green grass. In the distance a large body of blue water is still.
blog

Court update: A win for Gulf of St. Lawrence protectors!

Old Harry case wins the right to be heard.
May 2017
Old Harry Photo by John Loach
press release

Enviro groups sue over drilling in Gulf of St. Lawrence

TORONTO – Environmental groups took legal action today against the renewal of an exploration licence at Old Harry to protect the Gulf of St Lawrence — home to more than 4,000 species including blue whale, salmon and cod — from unlawful oil exploration.