Fuel spill in the Fraser River may affect B.C. salmon habitat
VANCOUVER — The smell of diesel filled the air as crews worked to recover a capsized tugboat that may have spilled as much as 22,000 litres of the fuel in the Fraser River between Vancouver and Richmond on Monday night.
Canadian Coast Guard spokesperson Dan Bate said it’s unknown what caused the George H. Ledcor tug to capsize around 10 p.m. PDT Monday, just east of Vancouver International Airport.
There were four people aboard the vessel and all were rescued by the crew on a nearby tug, Bate said.
The capsized vessel is part of a gravel tug-and-tow operation and was towing a gravel barge at the time. The vessel was about three-quarters submerged and had been secured to pilings, Bate said.
While the tug’s fuel capacity is 22,000 litres, he said crews are still assessing the total volume of the fuel spill.
It’s unclear what the impact of the spill will be on the ecosystem, which is at the north arm of the salmon-bearing Fraser River.
“Right now it’s too early to see what that looks like, obviously it will depend on the quantities and actions that are taken,” Bate said.
Michael Lowry with Western Canada Marine Response said the company has been retained by Ledcor, which operates the tug, and about 15 bags of the absorbent pads have already been collected.
He said the pads are put in place when there is a “light sheen” on the water, adding it was impossible to tell how much diesel had been soaked up.
Ledcor said the vessel’s recovery would happen on Wednesday.
Other responding agencies include the B.C. Environment Ministry, City of Vancouver, Musqueam First Nation and Transport Canada.
The Musqueam people have been fishing the biggest salmon return in years on the Fraser River alongside other fishermen. Musqueam has deployed staff to monitor the containment and cleanup, it said, however Chief Wayne Sparrow expressed frustration that the First Nation has done so without any federal support through the $1.5-billion Oceans Protection Plan.
“The impact of what has happened with this immediate situation is an indication of what is to come as far as additional tanker traffic, barges and pollution. We are not in opposition to Canada’s plan on industrialization of the river, but we need to be there at the front of any kind of emergency response, period,” Sparrow said in the statement.