Nearly the length of Fogo Island: That's how big the SeaRose spill slick was

Emails obtained by CBC News show a slick that formed after Newfoundland and Labrador'slargest offshore oil spill in history measured21 kilometres by eightkilometres more thantwo-thirds the areaofFogo Island.

Memorial University biologist Ian Jones says those numbers about November's back-to-back spills are "shocking."

He monitored the spills using incident reports and updatesposted towebsitesfor both Huskyand theCanada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board and says he didn't come across those numbers.

"It is more than a bit shocking that this information wasn't released in the incident report web pages," he said.

On Nov.16, two spills on Husky'sSeaRoseproduction vessel released250,000 litres ofoil, water and gas into the oceanabout 350 kilometres east of St. John's.

A spokesperson for the C-NLOPB said while information about the existence of sheens was widely released, the regulator didn't say how big they were because its communications were focused on how it was monitoringHusky's response to the spill.

A spokesperson for Husky Energy says the sheen size was shown on a spill site mapthat was on display behind Husky exec Trevor Pritchard as he gave a presentation to media at the time.

That map was also emailed to somemembers of the media, the spokesperson said.

But Jones is not impressed.

"[That] is not an adequate public release of vital information," he said, noting that the map isn't anywhere online in the company's incident reports.

"The takeaway from this is that the responsible party for an oil spill seems to be in charge of releasing information about their own pollution event which, if you think about it, is totally absurd."

Slick spotted by Atlantic Hawk

Using access to information legislation, CBC News requested copies of emails sent between Husky Energy and the C-NLOPBaround the time of the SeaRosespill.

According to those emails, the Atlantic Hawk a ship sent immediately after the spill to survey the area first noted a"mile-long indication of oil" at the site.

The next day, an email from the C-NLOPB notes two sheens: one about ninekilometres by sixkilometres, and one 100 metres by 100 metres.

An update sent roughly five hours later references a sheen 27 kilometres south of the site, 21 kilometres by eightkilometres big.

The slick was thin, the email said according to a specialized rating system, there were likely40 litres of oil in each square kilometre.

"Depending on sea states, the size, trajectory and density of a spill will naturally change," LesleyRideout, a spokesperson for theC-NLOPB, told CBC News.

Missed opportunity

"I'm not surprised that it was that big, nor that it wasn't well-advertised," said Brad de Young, a physical oceanographer at Memorial University.

He said he'd like to see the stakeholders in our offshore oil industry commit to doing the studies and the research needed on spills like the SeaRose incident to really learn from themnot learn justabout how the dump will affect the wildlife and the environment, but how spilled oil will behave in the frigid, rough waters of the North Atlantic.

Because right now, when it comes to spills in the province's offshore, there are a lot of unknowns, he said.

"Oilhasn'tbeen around long enough for us to see the full trajectory of what happens to it ...in this environment. It will be different from the Gulf of Mexico,quiteclearly. It might be more similar to the Gulf of Alaska. But then again, maybe not."

Better transparency is a small, but important part of that, he said.

"If you want to be smarter, to reallylearn from it, you have to have some kind of organized observational strategy beyond just a boat that goes out and tells you there's oil in the water," he said.

"I think it's really going to take something dramatic before people really take it seriously."

Coadysays she'll ask if size can be reported

Opposition leader ChesCrosbie led Thursday's question period in the House of Assembly by demanding to know ifNatural Resources Minister Siobhan Coady was aware of the size of spill.

Coady said that information 250,000 litres was disclosed almost immediately.

Crosbiesaid he was asking about area not litres, claimingCoady was "out of the loop" and that she gave incorrect information to the House of Assembly.

"First of all, the information I gave the House of Assembly, and the information I gave the people of the province was totally correct: 250,000 litres," Coady yelled back.

"The size of the sheen on the water changed day by day, hour by hour," adding that was made aware of the area covered by the spill "at one point."

Size means more than volume: Crosbie

When pressed further, she said she was unable to recall when that point was.

Crosbie said he believes thesize of any sheen would mean more to the public than the volume and asked Coady if she'd requireincident reports to include that information.

Coady emphasized the size of any sheen changes constantlywith sea statesand that it was "more accurate" to give the spill size in litres, but said she would pass Crosbie's request along.

"I know that all aspects of this oil spill are under investigation, including communications. And I will endeavour to ensure that the member opposite's voice is placed before those investigating this to say they would like it, in terms of reporting, as to what the visual viewpoint is from an hour to hour basis."

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