Slow response to oil spill in Vancouver prompts concerns
An oily purple-blue sheen of fuel believed to be leaking from a bulk carrier ship has coated water and land in Vancouver’s picturesque English Bay. The spill of the black oil-like substance is raising questions about a slow emergency response and lack of notification to both city officials and the public at a time when tanker traffic through Vancouver waters is expected to increase.
An emergency response team was called in on Wednesday night to deal with the oil slick on the bay that is surrounded by apartments, businesses and touches on the city’s jewel, Stanley Park.
The substance had originally been identified as bunker fuel, but later Thursday officials said they couldn’t identify the oily black substance.
The coast guard’s Capt. Roger Girouard said the worst-case scenario would be that the fuel is raw crude.
Girouard said at a news conference that 1,400 litres of the substance had already been skimmed from the water by clean up crews.
Officials with the city said they were not notified until 6 a.m. Thursday morning – more than 12 hours after the port and coast guard first received reports of a spill.
“This is obviously something that no one in Vancouver ever wants to see – this kind of contamination of our beaches and our seawaters,” said councillor Geoff Meggs at a news conference.
“We will want to find out more about the gap between the spill itself and the notification of our city resources.”
On Thursday afternoon, glossy water coated in a film of pollution lapped onto the shores of English Bay and Second Beach. Several tankers could be seen on the horizon and helicopters flew overhead.
The City of Vancouver warned residents to keep their dogs and boats out of the water.
Mayor Gregor Robertson said in a statement that management of the spill is the responsibility of the federal government through the Canadian Coast Guard, the port and Western Canada Marine Response Corporation.
The city opened its emergency operations centre Thursday and deployed marine units from the Vancouver police and fire and rescue services, he said.
Park rangers were dispatched to monitor the beaches and biologists and wildlife experts were on site to assess the impact of the spill on the shoreline and wildlife.
“Any spill of this nature is met with grave concern by all Vancouver residents, and underscores both the importance of robust oil spill response capacity in our local waters and the need to protect our shores from all such risks in the future,” the mayor said.
Girouard said they believed the spill had come from a cargo ship anchored off the bay, but the ship’s crew denied anything was coming from the vessel.
The red and black ship named Marathassa was surrounded by an orange oil-absorbing boom early Thursday morning.
Several ships with special equipment were seen cleaning up fuel near the vessel.
John Parker-Jervis of Port Metro Vancouver said five boats were out recovering fuel oil throughout the night.
“I don’t know if I would characterize it as a big spill but, you know, a significant operation to ensure cleaning it up.”
But Meggs said what may seem like a small spill to an offshore mariner, is “very, very significant” to the people of Vancouver.
“It underlines it certainly for those who are very concerned about the proposed increased tanker traffic, the vulnerability of our beaches, the possibility that there could be a spill,” he said.
Spencer Chandra Herbert, environment critic for the Opposition New Democrats, said the spill raises concerns about Kinder Morgan’s proposed Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which would increase tanker traffic.
“Kinder Morgan wants to put oil tankers with diluted bitumen here which could likely sink into our water,” he said.
The Vancouver Aquarium said in a news release that it had deployed its rapid response team to ensure the protection of any fish, seabirds and marine mammals that may be put at risk from the toxic spill.