Stop Woodfibre LNG from harming seals and sea lions


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Woodfibre LNG wants to expose seals and sea lions to underwater noise that is equivalent to repeated shotgun blasts.

Steller sea lions are listed as a species of "Special Concern" under the Species at Risk Act, and have only recently returned to Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound, a UNESCO Biosphere Region.

Please take a moment to send a letter to Minister Steven Guilbeault. Personalized letters are much more impactful. Share why Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound is special to you.

Why is this important?

Woodfibre LNG is a proposed Liquefied ‘Natural’ Gas (LNG = fracked gas) export project near Squamish (Sḵwx̱wú7mesh), British Columbia (learn more).

When the project received Federal approval in 2016, condition 3.8 of its environmental assessment certificate required it to stop construction if marine mammals came close enough that the underwater noise would disturb or injure them.

But Woodfibre LNG has complained to the federal regulator (the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada, IAAC) that it's not "economically feasible" to meet this condition, and has requested that the monitoring area for seals and sea lions during pile driving be reduced from 7,322 metres to just 125 metres.

Underwater noise from construction, shipping, recreation, and development has doubled in intensity every decade since the 1950s. Human-caused underwater noise can reduce marine mammals' ability to communicate, find food, escape predators, and survive, and can cause injury or permanent hearing loss.

We would never tolerate these noise levels for humans.

This could set a dangerous precedent for any project that finds itself looking to cut costs at the expense of the environment. These unacceptable changes to Woodfibre LNG’s conditions would hurt the Steller sea lions of Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound, a species at risk that have only recently returned to Átl’ḵa7tsem / Howe Sound.

Can you write to Minister Steven Guilbeault and demand they scrap the proposed changes?

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