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THE NEW TANNERTHURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2017 13THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, DECEMBER 21, 201712 www.buy-wise.ca Visit our Showroom: 11 Mountainview Rd. N., Georgetown 905-873-0236 NEW LOC ATIO NAnn's Cartage Home, Office & Piano Movers 905-877-6183 Serving all of Ontario since 1968. Call for your Free Estimate Today! www.annscartage.ca • Residential • Commercial • IndustrialOVERHEAD DOORS & ELECTRIC OPENERS SERVICE & INSTALLATION Call Dave The Door Guy 1.866.919.9945 www.dghdoors.com WalkThru GARAGE DOORS Advent IV: Sunday, Dec. 24 Christmas Eve 10:30 a.m. - Word Made Flesh John 1 v 1-18 4:30 p.m. - Birth of Jesus Luke 1 v 1-18 Monday, Dec. 24 Christmas Day 10:30 a.m. - Communion Service Luke 2 v 8-20 Knox Presbyterian Church 44 Main St. N, Acton L7J 1W2 pccweb.ca/knoxacton 519-853-2360 • 519-853-5494 knoxacton@gmail.com NELLIS CONSTRUCTION LIMITED ROAD BUILDING EARTH MOVING R.R. #1 Acton 853-0960 McISAAC 781588 Ont. Ltd. 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Barrister & Solicitor 69 Mill St. E Acton 28 Paisley St. Guelph Phone: 519-824-2242 Fax :519-824-3049 Carin Pelka Licenced Paralegal Specializing in Workplace Safety & Insurance Board - Claims/Revenue 69 Mill Street East Acton, ON By appointment only 519-853-2091 We handle all insurance work • Truck Accessories • Upholstery • Heavy Equipment Glass • Window Tinting 354 Guelph Street, Georgetown (905)873-1655 Community Corner By: David SuzukiSCienCe matterSScienceMatters By David Suzuki Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says oil pipelines have no place in B.C.'s Great Bear Rainforest. Opponents of the approved Kind- er Morgan pipeline expansion to the West Coast and the cancelled Energy East pipeline to the East Coast argue pipelines and tank- ers don't belong in any coastal areas. Research led by the Rain- coast Conservation Foundation confirms the threat to marine mammals in B.C. waters from a seven-fold increase in tanker traf- fic is considerable. After examining potential im- pacts of a 15,000-cubic-metre oil spill in B.C. waters on 21 marine mammals, researchers conclud- ed most individuals would be at risk and a few local populations wouldn't survive. Baleen whales, for example, are highly suscept- ible to ingesting oil because they breathe through blowholes, fil- ter and eat food from the ocean surface and rely on invertebrate prey. Oil residue can stick to the baleen, restricting the amount of food they consume. Resident and transient killer whales, sea otters and Steller sea lions were most likely to see a drop in population levels from an oil spill. Killer whales are espe- cially vulnerable because of their small populations, low reproduct- ive rates, dietary specialization, long lives and complex social structure. The 76 southern resi- dent killer whales off the B.C. coast, Canada's most endangered marine mammal, are particularly threatened by oil spills, as well as ship strikes and underwater noise that hinders their ability to feed and communicate. If Trans Mountain's Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion pro- ceeds and an oil spill occurs, the study estimates it would affect between 22 and 80 per cent of these whales' critical Salish Sea habitat. They already face severe chinook salmon prey shortages and other challenges. In court, opponents argued that adding pipeline and tanker impacts to the mix could lead to their extinction. Following the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster in Prince Wil- liam Sound, a unique pod of north coast orcas vanished forever. Nine of the 22 whales died and remaining pod members didn't produce any living offspring. All marine mammals are vul- nerable to oil spills because they surface to breathe. If that hap- pens in a spill, oil can adhere to their bodies, and they can inhale toxic vapours and ingest oil. Marine mammals exposed to oil spills may suffer damaged airways, congested lungs, stom- ach ulcerations, eye and skin lesions, weight loss and stunted growth. When whales and dol- phins surface to breathe, oil can restrict their blowholes and air- ways. When seals and otters try to clean oil matted on their coats, they ingest it. They also lose heat because spilled oil ruins their nat- ural insulation, so they can die of hypothermia. Even indirect exposure to small amounts of oil chemicals known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocar- bons can have profound toxic effects on animals and fish, par- ticularly the young. Two years after the Exxon Valdez spill, mortality rates in pink salmon eggs were 96 per cent higher than pre-spill levels. Researchers esti- mated that shoreline habitats such as mussel beds could take up to 30 years to recover fully. Chronic oil pollution from ships travelling off Canada's coasts kills hundreds of thou- sands of seabirds every year. In the late 1990s, an estimated 300,000 birds died annually off Newfoundland's coast alone. No technology will adequately clean most oil spills, especially diluted bitumen. Unlike conven- tional crude, bitumen can sink if spilled in water, according to a 2016 study by the Nation- al Academy of Sciences. It also found that current regulations and spill-response techniques can't manage the unique behaviour and higher risks of a bitumen spill. Tar balls sink to the bottom or hang in the water column, elud- ing conventional booms used to contain oil spills. An Oil Tanker Moratorium Act before Parliament recognizes that B.C.'s north coast ecosystems and local economies must be protect- ed from oil spill risks. B.C.'s new government will argue in its case against the Kinder Morgan pipe- line that the federal government failed to evaluate the project's risks to the marine environment -- a breach of its obligation to consider the national interest. It's certainly not in the inter- ests of any marine mammal, especially endangered ones, to add more shipping traffic or in- crease oil spill risks -- nor is it in keeping with our Paris Agree- ment commitments to shift away from fossil fuels. Let's hope that the Kinder Morgan project goes the way of the Energy East pipe- line. Oil spills pose unacceptable threats to marine life