TIMELINE OF OIL SPILLS IN VANCOUVER HARBOUR
SEPT. 1973: After two freighters collided in Burrard Inlet, about 240 metric tons of light bunker oil escaped into the harbour. Nearly one half of this release was effectively confined to the immediate vicinity of the vessels while the remainder quickly fanned into a large tear-shaped configuration 15-to-20 square km in area.
APRIL 1989: Carelessness caused a 2,000-litre oil spill in Vancouver harbour when bunker oil overflowed from the bulk carrier Lok Pratima, which had just taken on 16,000 tonnes of canola, at the Pioneer terminal. About 1.5 kilometres of coastline, from the Pioneer Grain Terminals in North Vancouver to the SeaBus Terminal at Lonsdale Quay, were polluted.
FEB. 1990: Some 40,000 litres of diesel fuel spilled from the fuel tank of a Polish fishing trawler berthed at Vanterm after it was rammed in heavy fog by a container ship. It was estimated that more than 1,000 seabirds were affected by the slick, and cleanup cost an estimated $1 million.
OCT. 1998: A canola oil spill in Vancouver harbour, attributed to a supervisor’s miscalculation that caused a holding tank to overflow, killed at least 200 migratory birds. Vancouver-based West Coast Reduction Ltd. pleaded guilty to environmental charges and agreed to donate $20,000 to Environment Canada for wildlife protection.
NOV. 1999: A huge canola oil spill contaminated Vancouver harbour from Point Atkinson to Point Grey, threatening waterfowl because oil-covered birds lose their natural ability to keep warm.
FEB. 2000: Environment Canada estimated the canola oil spill to be as much as 50 tonnes when oil leaked from a pipe carrying the oil from a pumping station at Neptune Bulk Terminals (Canada) Ltd. to the Mauritian-registered tanker Poti.
JULY 2006: An oil spill occurred as the Hong Kong-registered grain ship MV Andre was receiving bunkering oil pumped from the fuel barge as it was anchored in Vancouver harbour, which sent between 8,000 and 14,000 litres of heavy fuel oil into Burrard Inlet.
JULY 2007: A contractor punctured a Kinder Morgan pipeline under Inlet Drive in Burnaby and released a quarter-million litres of crude oil, causing evacuation of 40 homes. Some of the oil leaked into Burrard Inlet. Oil sheens as large as three metres by 10 metres spread throughout the inlet as far west as Canada Place in Vancouver and as far east as Deep Cove in North Vancouver.