A report released today by the Royal Society of Canada says there are major gaps in research when it comes to understanding the impact of oil spills in water.
The panel of scientists is hoping for a nationally co-ordinated research program involving government, industry, and academia looking at controlled oil spills in the field.
The report was commissioned by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers and the Canadian Pipeline Association.
“There are knowledge gaps but how much risk they’re willing to accept is up to them that’s something that the regulator does,” said Kenneth Lee, chair of the panel that authored the report. “We’re scientists providing the facts to them to make those decisions.”
Lee notes that when it comes to dealing with diluted bitumen, there is still a lot left to learn in terms of its impact on the environment although many will be looking to see if it’s more harmful than other types of oil.
“It’s much more than you know gee, dilbit [diluted bitumen] is really bad and light oils evaporate it just gives you the idea of what happens there’s so many factors that we need to understand,” said Lee.
You can read the full report here.
– With files from the Canadian Press
