BP began drilling an exploration well in the Northeast Newfoundland Slope Closure, a marine refuge east of Newfoundland, on May 8.
Federal regulations stipulate that "all bottom contact fishing activities" are prohibited within the refuge, created in 2017 by the Trudeau government to protect vulnerable cold-water corals and sponges. However, those rules allow oil exploration, including drilling. "There are different levels of protection. In marine protected areas, there is no allowance for oil and gas development, but in marine refuges there is a provision that allows for exploration but not for production. So one can actually explore within the context of a marine refuge", Wilkinson said Wednesday.
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