Well, they didn’t quite say it like that, but the Canadian Coast Guard is making it perfectly clear that the responsibility of cleaning up any fuel problems from the wreck of the Queen of the North lies squarely with the BC Ferry Corporation.
Thursday’s Daily news featured a story about the latest incident of upwelling fuel over the weekend near Hartley Bay and the reaction of the Coast Guard to the reports, while the Coast Guard did investigate the situation; they were unable to confirm that the fuel had come from the wreck. But one thing that they seemed to stress more than a few times was that any clean up questions should be directed to B. C. Ferries.
Thursday’s article firmly bounces the issue of the fate of any clean up requirements back onto the decks of BC Ferries, who perhaps should begin a more definitive approach to the issue and share with all the stakeholders of the area what kind of plans they have and what is to be done the next time some fuel happens to come to the surface.
The folks in Hartley Bay might appreciate the heads up as to who they should address their calls and concerns to.
The latest bit of who has the answers, can be found in Thursday’s paper.
‘CLEANING FUEL LEAKS DOWN TO BC FERRIES’
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily news
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Page one
The Canadian Coast guard did not respond to help clean up the oil slick north of Hartley Bay last weekend because there was not a large enough slick for an effective clean up, says a Canadian Coast Guard representative.
And even if there was, the Canadian Coast Guard’s role is that of a federal observer and it is B. C. Ferries job to ensure there is an effective clean-up.
Dan Bate, communications officer for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, said the Coast Guard vessel did respond to the report of the slick north of Hartley Bay last Friday; however they were unable to confirm whether the fuel came from the sunken wreck.
“B. C. Ferries Corporation notified the Canadian Coast Guard about 3 p. m the afternoon,” said Bate. “Two vessels, the HMCS Whitehorse and Pacific Pride a commercial tug, were in the area around 6 p. m.
“Based on their observations, they were unable to see any slick or pollution concerns in the area.”
Initial reports put the slick at 15 – metres wide and five miles long.
“It might have been a rainbow sheen on the water and it’s possible after two hours it had evaporated,” said Bate. “the other thing is it’s not conclusive it was from the Queen of the North. It might have been from a passing vessel. It’s hard to know what it was.
“Regardless, with a diesel sheen on the water, there’s no way to clean that up,” he said.
“It evaporates and cleans itself up, Sunlight and wave action work to break it up.”
Residents of Hartley Bay were unable to take any action to collect the fuel last Friday. B. C. Ferries has trained 10 community members and boom equipment in the community however village leaders and the North Coast MLA have complained they do not have enough training to respond if there is a significant upwelling from the vessel.
While Bate acknowledged there are concerns, he said it is not the role of the Coast Guard to clean up any fuel leaks from the sunken wreck.
If a slick is spotted, the report would go in to the Coast Guards’ emergency centre and vessels in the area would be asked to make an observation.
“It’s B. C. Ferries responsibility to then call the responder,” he said.
“Coast Guard’s role in that type of a situation is as a federal monitoring officer, we would oversee an operation that’s ongoing but material would come from another company or wherever B. C. Ferries has stockpiled its equipment.”
When the vessel went down last March, it was carrying 240,000 litres of fuel. While B. C. Ferries has said it will not try to remove any fuel left on the vessel, and points to data from the Canadian Coast Guard claiming it is unlikely there is any fuel left on board the vessel, village residents disagree with the assessment.
Thursday’s Daily news featured a story about the latest incident of upwelling fuel over the weekend near Hartley Bay and the reaction of the Coast Guard to the reports, while the Coast Guard did investigate the situation; they were unable to confirm that the fuel had come from the wreck. But one thing that they seemed to stress more than a few times was that any clean up questions should be directed to B. C. Ferries.
Thursday’s article firmly bounces the issue of the fate of any clean up requirements back onto the decks of BC Ferries, who perhaps should begin a more definitive approach to the issue and share with all the stakeholders of the area what kind of plans they have and what is to be done the next time some fuel happens to come to the surface.
The folks in Hartley Bay might appreciate the heads up as to who they should address their calls and concerns to.
The latest bit of who has the answers, can be found in Thursday’s paper.
‘CLEANING FUEL LEAKS DOWN TO BC FERRIES’
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily news
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Page one
The Canadian Coast guard did not respond to help clean up the oil slick north of Hartley Bay last weekend because there was not a large enough slick for an effective clean up, says a Canadian Coast Guard representative.
And even if there was, the Canadian Coast Guard’s role is that of a federal observer and it is B. C. Ferries job to ensure there is an effective clean-up.
Dan Bate, communications officer for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, said the Coast Guard vessel did respond to the report of the slick north of Hartley Bay last Friday; however they were unable to confirm whether the fuel came from the sunken wreck.
“B. C. Ferries Corporation notified the Canadian Coast Guard about 3 p. m the afternoon,” said Bate. “Two vessels, the HMCS Whitehorse and Pacific Pride a commercial tug, were in the area around 6 p. m.
“Based on their observations, they were unable to see any slick or pollution concerns in the area.”
Initial reports put the slick at 15 – metres wide and five miles long.
“It might have been a rainbow sheen on the water and it’s possible after two hours it had evaporated,” said Bate. “the other thing is it’s not conclusive it was from the Queen of the North. It might have been from a passing vessel. It’s hard to know what it was.
“Regardless, with a diesel sheen on the water, there’s no way to clean that up,” he said.
“It evaporates and cleans itself up, Sunlight and wave action work to break it up.”
Residents of Hartley Bay were unable to take any action to collect the fuel last Friday. B. C. Ferries has trained 10 community members and boom equipment in the community however village leaders and the North Coast MLA have complained they do not have enough training to respond if there is a significant upwelling from the vessel.
While Bate acknowledged there are concerns, he said it is not the role of the Coast Guard to clean up any fuel leaks from the sunken wreck.
If a slick is spotted, the report would go in to the Coast Guards’ emergency centre and vessels in the area would be asked to make an observation.
“It’s B. C. Ferries responsibility to then call the responder,” he said.
“Coast Guard’s role in that type of a situation is as a federal monitoring officer, we would oversee an operation that’s ongoing but material would come from another company or wherever B. C. Ferries has stockpiled its equipment.”
When the vessel went down last March, it was carrying 240,000 litres of fuel. While B. C. Ferries has said it will not try to remove any fuel left on the vessel, and points to data from the Canadian Coast Guard claiming it is unlikely there is any fuel left on board the vessel, village residents disagree with the assessment.
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