SLOW RESPONSE TO OIL SPILL
Concerns raised over preparedness
VANCOUVER City of Vancouver officials weren’t notified of an oil spill in English Bay until 12 hours after the Coast Guard was first alerted to the problem, raising concerns of the rate of response in an emergency.
While someone from a sailboat first reported the estimated kilometrelong oil slick at about 5 p. m. local time Wednesday to Port Metro Vancouver, the Canadian Coast Guard didn’t start containing the area until 8 p. m., when crews in five boats from the West Coast Marine Response Corp. set up a boom around the ship Marathassa, a bulk grain carrier from Korea, and then worked throughout the night to recover some of the heavier oil around the ship and pinpoint its source.
The city, however, was not informed of the slick until 6 a. m. the next day.
That’s when it activated its emergency operations centre, calling on marine units from the Vancouver Police and Fire and Rescue officers, as well as city staff and park rangers to monitor the shoreline, and biologists and wildlife experts to assess any risks to the shoreline and wildlife.
“We’re here to help and support. We need to be an integrated part of any response,” city manager Penny Ballem said.
At a news conference held at English Bay Thursday morning, city Coun. Geoff Meggs also voiced concerns about the delay in alerting the city.
Meggs said while the spill may be considered a minor event by federal authorities, it is a huge deal to the people of Vancouver.
“I think a lot of councillors want to to know the details of the event, how notifications occurred, who decided to make the various decisions about response time. Clearly the spill cleanup occurred promptly, but was it enough? ... I want to be cautious today because we value the good working relationship we have with the port, but at the same time we always want to strengthen it.”
Rob O’Dea, a sailor who reported the spill, said he was surprised the response hadn’t been quicker.
O’Dea was sailing in English Bay at about 5 p. m. local time when he noticed a section of flat water amid the windswept waves. As he sailed closer, he realized the slick wasn’t just on the surface but deep beneath the water.
“There were thousands of block globules from the size of a pea up to a fist,” O’Dea said.
“It wasn’t just an oily sheen on the water.”
He called the Coast Guard, but noted there was not an emergency response on scene until at least an hour later when a harbour patrol boat appeared and went back and forth through the slick. By 8 p. m., he said, the slick still hadn’t been contained. Ironically, O’Dea added, the slick had occurred in sight of the now- closed Coast Guard Station.
Coast Guard spokesman Dan Bate said it wasn’t until the organization took an aerial view of the site that it realized the size of the spill was much larger than first thought.