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23Firrcou]-irqinq 1,i e oil. l-rconr vrithor,r-t wa-Ltirre' for betfcr ir:.i'orme.tionorr hol,' fo coriserve fiie renewable n.rtriral resrJurces o1' flie l,.rortlr.'l'he qeoioqy of thc nor'fh suggest,s ti.;if siqnifacanil'inds; o.f' oii a.r( llxelv. Altiioush the oil Ceposifs wiil. be quiteIocal r zrecl, r) irccLil,:itive exi;loration rnrill, of necessi Ly, bern;i.tles;i-.rtr:ld ,'rtrci {Tenr-:l^;ri. fJ}nt kind of l-and will be lcft to supnortnativer poptt-Laf-i.o,-rs, il.rid Llir', wil-cil-ife on whj ch f ircv ciey>end, wiretrtiir: ej)',r.)lornt,j,:rn r-:rc!,,s irrve done l,heir danage and rioved on? <strong>The</strong>alf r';r ct,ivcness of tire northern lalidscape and tfie inf erestingvarieflr of'trilciiife it supports nralr 1,'ef prove Lo be tl;e long termeccnon-ic fcri,rr,lai.j-on of' tnuch oJ' ti'e area, if they are not destrovecibefore Lr;urisn has a chatice to grow.Develorrrrent of proven oil deposi"fs poses problons ?,stroublesonle as exploraLion. Sforage, harrilinq anC transporL fo::ina l-ong series of pofentialJ-y dangerous unknowrrs" 'i'ransporfinq waruroiI by pipeline involvcs problems of insulation to preventthermokarst. Transport h,;y sea, ciespite the frsuccessfultr voyageof tlie l'&rnhattan (it sus'Lajned tvro gapins holes in ifs hull) iufrougirt v,rj-tir uncertainty.,Recent ex.perience viiti, fhe tankcr Ari-ow, off Lhc coastof iiova Seot,ia., iras poJnt,ed up fi e nrot;Iern of oil spills at s€&oA sjlnj lri-r' sptll in Arct,i c viafers, whet,ht',p frr-rrn tankers, offshoreciriliirrfi or losses al trans;fer lroinfs, viould pose enonnous protr]sns.,\voi,.iernce of such spilj.s, clearr-u1-l t,eclrniques, and the darnage tobe cxDcr:fed if'they are not, clearred up jmmedlateiy have scarcelytrereri di.scusseci. Lr,gi siation is iact inq. F.esearch has not beenin:-ti;+t ed. '-tLrreIv t,irlrrr i s reasolr t,o proceed wi tli r:auliolr, t,cl-inrit. c:xoloraticin ,1n,.1. developnent unt,il re:search arrcl experimeni;r-fionlrave :;L;ovri hcw to nerfonn tlrese tasks wilhout seriously danngingthe sensi.five norfhern environme,nt.tlut the sLage is set for nort,hern Canada.rs ovrn oil bc;om:lmneri:'I Chl Lirnit.cd strrrch oil j-n r:rid Jartuary af thej-r AfkinscnPoirrt dill site, L2t; nriles nortlieasf of' fnuvik in fhe Northwest,'i'erriforics. Thi.s nevr f'jrrd vri.ll cerfainly preci-pifate a rtsh ofseisr,rie reeonrraissance a.nd exploratory drilh-ng, parti-cularly irrthe iuiackenz-je Jr:If" where find gra"i-ned, unconsol"ictated silts arenart,icularly sensifive to thermokarst and irreversible darnage.lfust tiris rush t,ai,,e pla.ce now, while so rnny c'1ui stions rernainunanswe r:ed?<strong>The</strong> Departr,rent, of lndian Affairs anC lriorthern Developmeut,rv-1 t h assist,:;.nce f rori n'rinincr ojI and conservatj.on i-nlcrests, j sdrafting a set of land use requlr-tions ciesigned to mrni:rr-ize darna.geLo noltherrn environ:rcnf s. But l,itcse regulir.tions are still nionthsawali fron hrecoriinp law. itven vrt:en they are approved, fhere will
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