Authorities must step up immediatel

Authorities must step up immediately and fix our vulnerability to potential man-made environmental disasters offshore.

Many of us have feared Nova Scotia has not been properly prepared or protected in the event of a major oil rig blowout. Now, a report by Scott Vaughan, the departing federal commissioner of the environment and sustainable development, validates those concerns.

Vaughan states that offshore regulators in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador are not ready to handle a major spill, pointing out that liability limits for oil companies operating off Canada’s East Coast are inadequate and have not been raised in more than 20 years.

Nova Scotia, which jointly manages the offshore with the federal government through the Canada-Nova Scotia Offshore Petroleum Board, is in a difficult position despite the environmental concern.

It is trying to encourage offshore oil and gas exploration. Increasing liability for oil companies has the potential of discouraging such projects.

On the other hand, as the commissioner points out, if taxpayers are not adequately protected in the event of a major offshore disaster, it is the taxpayer who will be asked to pick up the tab for an environmental cleanup that could run into the billions of dollars.

According to reports, the liability limit for offshore damages and costs in Canada is still only $40 million for an offshore spill in the Arctic, or $30 million in the Atlantic Ocean.

In the United States, the limit is $75 million; in Britain, the limit is $250 million.

Considering it is often the same companies exploring for oil and gas in different parts of the world, one may assume that raising the insurance standards for firms operating in Canada’s offshore shouldn’t matter all that much to the companies.

But there is a difference in the case of Nova Scotia.

Even though companies have been searching for oil and gas off our coast for decades — there has been one producing oil well in the past, one gas field now in production and another on the verge of starting — the province’s offshore resource is still something of an unproven commodity.

Nova Scotia needs to find a proper balance. Setting new conditions for liability may be a key moment in time to establish a new benchmark by which the oil and gas industry will operate.

Geological surveys show there is still potential for oil and gas to be found in deepwater offshore. That data has attracted major oil companies like Shell and BP, which have promised to spend billions over the next few years in an effort to find the hydrocarbons there.

By all means, promote economic activity that would be created as a result of the offshore development, but it would be irresponsible for the province and Ottawa to ignore Vaughan’s warnings.

For his part, Vaughan, who has post-graduate degrees from the London School of Economics, the University of Edinburgh and Dalhousie University and an undergraduate degree from Mount Allison University, is reported to be leaving his post two years early because he has been frustrated by the lack of interest on a number of environmental issues by the Conservative government.

Not surprisingly, federal Environment Minister Peter Kent issued a news release Tuesday thanking Vaughan for his work and defending the government’s record.

Kent insists that financial assurances are in place to ensure that businesses bear the costs of their operations and not taxpayers. On the other hand, he says changes are in the works.

“We are committed to working with our partners in preventing and preparing for offshore environmental emergencies, including oil spills,” the minister was quoted as saying.

The tendency for politicians may be to shift attention to someone else, but it all comes down to doing the right thing.

Adjust the liability rules now to clear up any uncertainty about the role of industry and taxpayers in the event of an environmental catastrophe offshore.