Work starts to remove oil from leaking wreck
Crews to extract crude 33 years after ship sank off Newfoundland coast
More than 30 years after it sunk off Newfoundland’s picturesque Notre Dame Bay, work begins Tuesday to extract leaking bulk oil from the wreck of the Manolis L.
The paper carrier sank near Change Islands in 1985 in about 70 metres of water and was dormant until April 2013, when fuel oil leaked from cracks in the hull during a powerful storm.
The coast guard installed devices to plug leaks and catch oil, but small sheens in the water and oiled seabirds have been reported since 2013.
Carolyn Parsons and other members of the Manolis L Citizen’s Response Committee have been lobbying provincial and federal officials since the storm — writing letters, meeting with coast guard officials, and holding public events.
“We’re really excited to see this finally come to its conclusion,” Parsons said Monday.
A 2016 technical assessment found there was 115 to 150 cubic metres of oil trapped in the wreck, along with about 60 cubic metres of diesel.
Parsons said residents are happy to see the beginning of the end of lingering fears that a large oil leak could shut down the commercial fishery, or poison the natural environment that draws huge numbers of tourists to the area.
“There’s been this threat hanging over all of that,” Parsons said. “People are just really concerned that one day everything would be destroyed.”
In 2015, documents showed that $1.7 million in federal money had been spent trying to plug oil leaks in the sunken ship.
As work begins to diminish the environmental threat of the Manolis L wreck, recent legislation suggests that Canada’s coastal communities may be less likely to be left holding the bag when derelict vessels are abandoned.