Spill response not ‘ world class’
When is an oil spill not merely an oil spill? When it happens in English Bay, that’s when.
The debacle last week in Vancouver’s harbour, caused by a foreign grain carrier, will have huge implications for billions of dollars in proposed pipeline investments as well as Ottawa’s strategy for exporting the country’s energy resources.
The future of the Northern Gateway pipeline and expansion of the Trans Mountain line depend on their respective sponsoring companies gaining social licence for such infrastructure, which was elusive even before the MV Marathassa spewed bunker fuel into the waters around Vancouver.
The mishap occurred next to an urban area that is action central for this country’s environmental movement.
B. C. is home base for a huge posse of environmental activists and the only province that has elected Green party politicians. It is a place where seabirds and wildlife have exalted status, and where livability is king.
Vancouver’s harbour is unlike other harbours in Canada where working ports host all manner of ships. It does double duty. Along with marine- based commerce, the port takes in lands that act as a playground in a tourism- dominated Lower Mainland.
The harbour is bordered by a ring of exquisite sandy beaches, a much- coveted park, and a seawall where locals jog, stroll and bicycle. Cruise ships dock nearby through three seasons.
With so much riding on British Columbians having confidence in both industry and government to be prepared and fully equipped for an oil spill, it is unfortunate that last week’s accident caught all parties with their pants down.
The public, for the most part, has no idea about respectable emergency response times and practices for an oil spill, so it was left to authorities to put on a competent, co- ordinated and reassuring display.
Everyone has known for some time how much is riding on such a professional response.
And while it might be a challenge to demonstrate alacrity and efficiency on a remote stretch of B. C. coastline, a quick and able response would be absolutely expected right in Vancouver’s harbour.
Yet the feds, the province and the city of Vancouver blew it, in unison.
Political leaders darted out in front of the cameras to perform a Keystone Kops routine, replete with highly quotable sound bites, blaming the next guy. The performance showed not only how unprepared government emergency responders are for oil spills in the harbour, but that the different jurisdictions have no plan for co- ordination and cooperation.
The mayor and premier decried cleanup efforts as delayed and inadequate, while the federal government and coast guard and relevant federal ministers huffily insisted such criticism was premature, unfair and invalid. Greens also weighed in, castigating the Harper government for past cuts to the coast guard as well as to environmental, search- and- rescue and research programs.
It was not pretty, and definitely did not inspire confidence.
Even if Vancouverites are inclined to believe Canadian Coast Guard assistant commissioner Roger Girouard’s assertion that 80 per cent of the mess was already cleaned up by Sunday, they will surely have lingering doubts about the ability of those in charge to get their acts together and stories straight.
The only thing “world class” about their response was the finger- pointing.
You can just imagine the executives in the boardrooms at Enbridge and Kinder Morgan Canada shaking their heads, knowing their battle to gain public approval just got a lot more difficult.
The finer points will be lost — that while the MV Marathassa was not double hulled, that will be a requirement for tankers transporting crude in Port Metro Vancouver.
Few will remember that mishaps involving crude oil have been extremely rare, given shipping volumes at the port.
They are more likely to recall televised images of tarry blobs tainting Vancouver’s beaches; blackened seabirds, oil- soaked and struggling to move about; and, of course, politicians attacking one another.