Cameron Island

Infobox Islands
name = Cameron Island


image caption = Cameron Island, Nunavut.
image size =
locator

map_custom =
native name =
native name link = Inuktikut
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location = Northern Canada
coordinates = coord|77|48|N|101|51|W|display=inline,title
archipelago = Queen Elizabeth Islands
Canadian Arctic Archipelago
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area = convert|1059|km2|sqmi|abbr=on
highest mount =
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country = Canada
country admin divisions title = Territory
country admin divisions = flag|Nunavut
country admin divisions title 1 = Qikiqtaaluk Region
country admin divisions 1 =
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country capital city =
country largest city =
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population = Uninhabited
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Cameron Island is one of the Canadian arctic islands in Nunavut, Canada. Located at 76°30'N 103°50'W, it has an area of 1,059 km².

Commercial oil production

Cameron Island is notable as being the only site which has been developed for commercial oil production in the Canadian Arctic islands. From 1985 to 1996 the double-hulled tanker M.V.Arctic shipped the light crude from Bent Horn in the south-west of the island to Montreal. A total of 2.8 million barrels was produced until the field was abandoned in 1996. The initial discovery, in 1974 by Panarctic Oils Ltd, reflected the urgency to find new sources of crude oil after the oil crisis in 1973. The abandonment in 1996 reflects the difficulties of exploiting the resource in this harsh environment, although the current production license (held by Canada Southern Petroleum Ltd) expires in 2010 and could be extended. After abandonment, final clean-up occurred in 1999. [cite web |url=http://www.geohelp.net/history.html |title=History of the Canadian Oil Industry (Key Dates) |accessdate=2008-05-17 |last=Russum |first= Dave |coauthors= |date= |work= |publisher=Geo-Help Inc.]

Cameron Island is a desolate spot: a dark-hued landscape of low hills. Oil exploration and traffic on land were concentrated in the winter months, when "winter roads" of compacted snow across the tundra were used by heavy vehicles. Appropriate efforts were taken to minimise the damage to this fragile environment, but where the vegetation was damaged, increased depths of summer thaw occurred. Possibly the greatest concern was caused by the sumps at the well-sites, into which the toxic drilling muds were pumped. These basins, blasted out of the permafrost, relied on the gradual freeze-back of the ground to seal in the waste materials.

References