The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) has allocated funds to assist in the environmental assessment of the proposed Eastern Newfoundland Offshore Exploration Drilling Project.
To put things more in perspective, ExxonMobil Canada is proposing to conduct an exploration drilling project within offshore exploration licenses located in both the Jeanne d’Arc Basin and the Flemish Pass Basin in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 250 kilometers east of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador.
As proposed, the drilling project would include the drilling of wells up to 35 wells within a 12-year period, starting in 2018. According to the CEAA, the project would allow ExxonMobil to determine the presence, nature, and quantities of the potential hydrocarbon resource.
In Wednesday’s statement, CEAA said that the funding for the environmental assessment was made available through the agency’s Participant Funding Program.
The $228,977 funding program will assist the participation of the public and indigenous groups in upcoming steps of the environmental assessment, which include reviewing and providing comments on the Environmental Impact Statement or its summary, the draft Environmental Assessment Report and the potential environmental assessment conditions.
Among others, the funds were awarded to the Conseil de la Première Nation des Innus Natashquan, Corporation Ka Tshishpeuatak, on behalf of the Conseil des Innus de Ekuanitshit, Elsipogtog First Nation, and Kwilmu’kw Maw-Klusuaqn Negotiation Office. In total, the CEAA awarded funds to 13 recipients which will participate in the environmental assessment.