Greenland: Oil spill sensitive atlas for southwest Greenland

The Danish Energy Agency has financed an environmental sensitivity mapping project of the coastal areas of southwest Greenland between latitude 62N and 68N.

The background for the project was the drilling this summer of the first oil exploration offshore well since 1977 in the waters west of Fylla Bank in southwest Greenland. Even though the risk of an oil spill from a well is very slight, the project was initiated by the Danish Energy Agency and the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum in Nuuk as part of the oil spill contingency planning.

The objective of the project was to obtain an overview of the natural resources, including the biological resources (fish, birds, etc.) and fishing and hunting interests that are sensitive to an oil spill. With the aid of the atlas, the authorities and companies would be able to identify in advance where to focus their efforts against an oil spill should it become necessary to prioritize areas.

The project is based on a Canadian system and was carried out by the National Environmental Research Institute (NERI), the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), the University of Copenhagen, the Greenland Secretariat, the Danish National Museum, the Danish Meteorological Institute (DMI) and two Canadian firms, AXYS Environmental Consulting Ltd. and S.L. Ross Environmental Ltd.

The Atlas is available on a CD-Rom obtainable from the Danish Energy Agency.

Further information: Joe Nazareth, Danish Energy Agency. Phone +45 3392 6714. E-mail: jln@nes.dk


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