The PC MHA for Stephenville-Port au Port calls news of an oil leak in Shoal Point “very concerning.”

Images from the area show a pipe coming from out of the ground and leaking oil into the water. The pipe was originally sealed off years ago following a similar issue.

Tony Wakeham believes oil is also leaking from another former drilling location, also in that immediate area.

He says while remediation work was done at the site in the past, it was understood that it was only a temporary fix and that there was supposed to be a full reclamation of the site.

Wakeham was told that there was an apparent dispute between the provincial and federal governments over jurisdiction and responsibility, so the work never did get done. He hopes the fix isn’t being held up because the province and the feds can’t find a way to make it work. He says people don’t care who does the work as long as it gets done and the mess is cleaned up.

Meanwhile, the Department of Environment and Climate Change says it is monitoring the situation at Shoal Point and has routinely been doing so since the capping initially took place in 2017.

In total, they say they have made 31 visits to date.

On Saturday, they received several reports of an oil leak and dead birds found in the area. However, they say the person who reported it noted no oil on the birds, and it appeared they may have been shot.

The department visited the site twice that day—once at high tide in the morning and once at low tide in the evening.

They say oil seepage was noticed at low tide, and no dead or fouled birds were observed.

They note that “local geology in the area does result in some natural oil seepage.”