The critically endangered species now faces a sevenfold increase in oil tanker traffic without protections from underwater noise or vessel strikes
VANCOUVER/UNCEDED xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (MUSQUEAM), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (SQUAMISH), AND səlilwətaɬ (TSLEIL-WAUTUTH) TERRITORIES: When the federal Cabinet approved the Trans Mountain Expansion Project in 2019, it “undertook” to implement 16 recommendations from the Canada Energy Regulator to help manage the harmful impacts of oil tankers on the marine environment, including the impacts of increased vessel noise and oil spill risk on the endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales. The government had previously committed to “more than mitigate” these impacts on the whales before shipping began.
Instead, Ecojustice and their clients Living Oceans Society and Raincoast Conservation Foundation have learned — through the federal government’s response to an Environmental Petition under the Auditor General Act — that Cabinet has broken its promise to Canadians to implement the 16 Recommendations, leaving the whales exposed to the harm from the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX).
Despite shipping from TMX beginning on May 23, the relevant Cabinet ministers have now confirmed that there is no timeline for implementing some of the 16 Recommendations, and that it has no intention of fully implementing others. Specifically, there is no timeline for the promised offsetting program for underwater noise, and the regional cumulative effects management plan will not be implemented.
The Southern Residents are endangered due to a combination of increasing scarcity of their main prey, Chinook salmon, that they depend on for survival, vessel noise that interferes with successful foraging for salmon, high levels of industrial contamination of the marine environment, and the risk of being injured or killed by vessel strikes. The federal government concluded in 2018 — even before re-approving TMX in 2019 — that the Southern Residents faced imminent threats to their survival and recovery.
TMX is now exacerbating these threats with a sevenfold increase in oil tanker traffic in the waters where the Southern Residents must forage and survive. While Cabinet backtracks on its promises, we are increasingly at risk of losing these iconic whales.
In June, along with other conservation groups, Living Oceans Society and Raincoast Conservation Foundation asked the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans and Minister of Environment and Climate Change Canada to recommend that Cabinet issue an emergency order under the Species at Risk Act with urgent measures to protect the Southern Residents from mounting threats. They are awaiting a response.
Karen Wristen, Executive Director, Living Oceans Society, said: “The government has been aware for at least a decade that TMX, combined with all the other development proposed and ongoing on our coast, was going to create a massive increase in risk for Southern Resident Killer Whales. They’ve taken no steps to ensure that underwater noise and oil spills don’t tip this endangered species into extinction.”
Dr. Peter Ross, Senior Scientist and Healthy Waters Program Director, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, said: “Entrusted to protect the Southern Residents, the federal government has struggled for years to fulfill its species protection mandate amidst its interest in fostering narrow economic development. This reluctance to prioritize species conservation has placed Southern Residents at high risk of extinction. By increasing tanker traffic and compromising other habitat protections, Canada is betraying its federal biodiversity commitments in favour of unsustainable industrial development, hastening the demise of these iconic whales.”
Dyna Tuytel, Staff lawyer, Ecojustice, said: “When Cabinet approved the Trans Mountain Expansion Project, they purported to meet their obligations under the Species at Risk Act by promising to implement all of the Canada Energy Regulator’s recommendations for government-led actions to protect the Salish Sea from a sevenfold increase in oil tanker traffic. Six years later, the project is operational, and it has finally become clear that they have broken their promise and failed in their responsibility to protect the critically endangered Southern Residents from it.”
About:
Living Oceans Society works to ensure that Canada’s oceans are sustainably managed and thriving with abundant and diverse sea life that supports vibrant and resilient communities. We engage with government, industry and the people who live and work on the coast to create viable solutions to conservation issues.
Raincoast Conservation Foundation is a team of conservationists and scientists empowered by our research to protect the lands, waters and wildlife of coastal British Columbia. We use rigorous, peer-reviewed science and community engagement to further our conservation objectives. We work in partnership with scientists, First Nations, local communities, and NGOs to build support for decisions that protect species, marine and terrestrial habitat on BC’s coast.
Ecojustice uses the power of the law to defend nature, combat climate change, and fight for a healthy environment. Its strategic, public interest lawsuits and advocacy lead to precedent-setting court decisions and law and policy that deliver lasting solutions to Canada’s most urgent environmental problems. As Canada’s largest environmental law charity, Ecojustice operates offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa, and Halifax.
