Toxic Fuel Spill in English Bay Vancouver..

B00Mer

Keep Calm and Carry On
Sep 6, 2008
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Toxic bunker fuel spill spreads over Vancouver’s English Bay; one tonne of oil recovered by clean-up crews



VANCOUVER – A tonne of oil has already been recovered by crews working to clean up a toxic bunker fuel spill believed to have leaked from a freighter in English Bay.

Port Metro Vancouver spokesman John Parker-Jervis said early Thursday morning that crews from five West Coast Marine Response Corporation boats are trying to recover some of the heavier oil that is surrounding the ship.

Vancouver fire rescue officials, who are working with the city and the Canadian Coast Guard to clean up the spill, say about one tonne of oil has already been recovered.

A boom has been set up around the ship Marathassa, which is a bulk grain carrier that arrived from Korea, to contain the oil, though Parker-Jervis stressed that it has not been confirmed that the oil is from that ship.

Vancouver city officials posted a boater and watercraft alert on Twitter early Thursday, saying that the spill is “bunker fuel” and that it is toxic. They are warning people not to touch the fuel.

Bunker fuel is a type of liquid fuel used on ships which is fractionally distilled from crude oil. It is extremely crude and highly polluting.



Aerial photos show a sheen on the water out the bay, but at Kits and Sunset beaches Thursday morning, there was no evidence of an oil spill. Several residents out walking their dogs said they hadn’t seen any oil on the beach. There were no signs up warning people about toxic bunker oil.

Michael Lowry, spokesman for the West Coast Marine Response Corporation, said the Canadian Coast Guard is expected to fly over the site within the hour to determine the size and scope of the spill. “What we’re doing now is an overflight to get a sense of how much product and what it is,” he said, on his way to a meeting with the city of Vancouver, Port Metro Vancouver and the Coast Guard.

“We haven’t been told what it is from the owner of the freighter but for the safety of the public they should consider it toxic.”

Crews from five West Coast Marine Response Corporation boats have been out since 8 p.m. yesterday to set up a boom around the freighter and are now using skimmers to try to recover some of the heavier oil surrounding the ship, Lowry added.



An emergency response team was called in after the port received multiple calls about an oily substance coating the water on the east side of the bay at about 5 p.m. Wednesday.

The coast guard and marine response teams worked into the night co-ordinating efforts to recover the substance and pinpoint its source.

Parker-Jervis said while it’s not yet confirmed, officials believe the oil is fuel from a freighter. He did not know how much oil was in the water, but said it appears to be localized between two freighters anchored in the bay.

Parker-Jervis said Port Metro Vancouver’s role is to provide situational awareness and assistance where they can, including use of the operations and emergency command centre.

He said he wasn’t sure if the oil could be seen from the shore. Aerial photos posted on social media show a trail of an oily substance on the water stretching to the shore.

Steve Keenan was out for his weekly paddling practice in English Bay Wednesday night when he got a faint whiff of oil about a kilometre from Siwash Rock.

“You could smell a petroleum product and see a sheen in the water,” he said. “All around us there was just this film.”

Keenan, who was in a solo kayak, didn’t think much of it at first, as there were no freighters nearby and he had encountered minor spills and discharges before in English Bay. But as he and his friends, who were in a six-man boat, made the 20-minute paddle back to shore, they realized the sheen wasn’t dissipating.

And the situation was about to get even worse.

“When we stopped, we saw all this brown stuff on the side of the boats. It felt like chewing gum,” Keenan said. ”We weren’t too concerned until we realized it wouldn’t wash off.”

Keenan used WD40 to clean his carbon fibre boat, but the group is still debating what to use to get the oil off the six-man fibreglass kayak.

And there’s also the issue of the oil itself, with the city warning it could be toxic. “We splashed it. It was all over my clothes and my hand goes in the water with every stroke,” Keenan said, but added: “At least I didn’t fall in.”

Transport Canada officials and the Canadian Coast Guard have officials at the scene. The investigation and clean up efforts are expected to continue Thursday. Vancouver city officials and Vancouver police are also responding to the scene.

The Vancouver Aquarium and Marine Science Centre also said it would closely monitor the spill to determine whether it will affect aquatic species. Spokeswoman Deana Lancaster said the aquarium is sending a response team to ensure protection of any fish, seabirds and marine mammals that might be at risk.

The size and scope of the spill have not yet been determined, but Ben West, spokesman for the environmental advocacy group Tanker Free BC, said the spill is a reminder of a “nightmare scenario” that could happen if there is increased tanker traffic along the B.C. coast.

“It may actually be lucky that this is only bunker fuel and not bitumen,” he said, in a statement. “If this were a spill of tar sands oil and this much time had passed without it being contained it likely would be game over for any kind of clean up.”

On Dec. 23, 1988, the Sause Brothers barge Nestucca released about 87,400 litres of bunker oil off Grays Harbor, Wash. The oil drifted northward with the currents, including up to the west coast of Vancouver Island as far as Cape Scott. The oil washed up on beaches, and up to 56,000 seabirds are thought to have died. Crab, shellfish and herring were affected along with native fishing practices.

A 2007 spill of bunker fuel in San Francisco Bay was found to be surprisingly toxic to fish embryos, devastating the herring population that feeds seabirds, whales and the bay’s last commercial fishery, scientists reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.



About half of that spill of 54,000 gallons, about the size of a large backyard swimming pool, was recovered.

The Los Angeles Times reported on the study in 2011, quoting Gary Cherr, a study co-author and director of the UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory, as saying: “We didn’t think there was enough oil spilled to cause this much damage.”

The Times story also quoted John Incardona, a toxicologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service, as saying: “This bunker oil is literally the dregs of the barrel, and it’s much more toxic than crude oil.

source: Toxic bunker fuel spill spreads over Vancouver’s English Bay; one tonne of oil recovered by clean-up crews | National Post

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Not very good for a tourist city.. :(
 

bill barilko

Senate Member
Mar 4, 2009
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Not very good for a tourist city
Just came back from English Bay the fuel seems to have evaporated there isn't even any smell-I imagine the stuff that did wash up ended up on the shore along West Vancouver-gravel & rock beaches where no one goes but lonely locals.

Heavy tides and spring currents means there's a helluva lotta water moving around @ this time give us a rainstorm & a good blow like is forecast for Friday & Saturday and this is history.
 

petros

The Central Scrutinizer
Nov 21, 2008
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Where did you get 1200L from 54,000 Gallon??

54 000 US gallons is 204 412.236 liters

Oops, my iPhone has a limited view.. May have missed the correct number
Parker-Jervis said while it’s not yet confirmed, officials believe the oil is fuel from a freighter. He did not know how much oil was in the water, but said it appears to be localized between two freighters anchored in the bay

54, 000 was in 2007 in San Fransiski in the on and on posted.
 

tay

Hall of Fame Member
May 20, 2012
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Trudeau orders Kitsilano Coast Guard station re-opened


"This is fantastic news for the City of Vancouver" said Coun. Kerry Jang, who expects the base to reopen as soon as possible.

"The building is still there, they just need to station some boats."

According to the city, the base responded to more than 300 calls every year, making it one of the busiest in the country.

The station was shuttered by Stephen Harper's Conservatives in early 2013, in a move criticized by experts and local city councillors.
Since then, the closest fully established base has been in Victoria.

I do not know to this day why anyone would even close it. It's just unbelievable," said the station's former commander Fred Moxey.

"Everything was done in secret. We went to the Coast Guard base one day and it was just shut, they moved out in the middle of the night, everything was taken away," said Jang.

"I had to sneak into a Victoria press conference to find out what was going on."

When bunker fuel leaked from the MV Marathasa into English Bay, the response was criticized as "embarrassing" by industrial emergency response expert Anita Burke, who later called for Kitsilano station to be re-opened.

"That was just a kilometre from the station. We would have been on scene in minutes and we could have had a boom wrapped around the vessel that was anchored there within an hour," said Moxey.

Trudeau orders Kitsilano Coast Guard station re-opened - British Columbia - CBC News