CBC: Inuit win injunction on seismic testing

[tuvor]

Judge grants block, citing potential for 'irreparable harm'

An Inuit group in Nunavut has been granted an injunction to stop seismic testing in Lancaster Sound, near the eastern entrance to the Northwest Passage.

In a decision handed down Sunday, Judge Susan Cooper issued an order to stop Natural Resources Canada from carrying out seismic tests aimed at mapping the area for potential oil and gas resources.

Residents from five communities in the area — Resolute Bay, Arctic Bay, Grise Fiord, Clyde River and Pond Inlet — were largely opposed to the plan to send sound blasts through the water, saying the sound could adversely affect whales, polar bears and other marine life in Lancaster Sound and change migration patterns.

The Nunavut government and the federal government had argued against an injunction, the latter citing a consultant's report that said the testing would have little or no impact on marine mammals.

But Judge Cooper noted "some aspects of the report … cause concern."

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http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/08/08/nunavut-lancaster-injunction.html