An oil slick feared to be coming from the sunken Queen of the North has the residents of Hartley Bay concerned for their local resources and health. A slick about 10 metres wide and more than a kilometre and a half long was seen near the site of the wreck Friday and it has renewed calls from the areas residents for BC Ferries to take more action regarding the wreck off of Gil Island.
The Vancouver Province had the story in its Sunday edition.
Slick worries villagers
Oil believed to be from sunken B.C. ferry
Matthew Little and Christina Montgomery
The Province
Sunday, July 08, 2007
A large patch of diesel spotted on the water's surface near Hartley Bay this week has residents of the tiny village worried that the sunken Queen of the North still threatens their food supply.
The 180-member Gitga'at community has been lobbying for removal of any remaining fuel from the ferry, which sank in March 2006 after hitting Gil Island.
The ferry, which was heading south from Prince Rupert, held 220,000 litres of diesel, 20,000 litres of light oil and 220 litres of hydraulic oil when fully loaded.
There were also 16 vehicles aboard when it sank.
It is unknown how much of the liquids remain in the wreck. Conservative estimates suggest there could be 150,000 litres left in the vessel -- although the figure is the subject of debate.
Residents, who depend heavily on the ocean for their food supply, stepped up their demands for a cleanup yesterday after a slick about 10 metres wide and more than a kilometre and a half long was seen near the site of the wreck Friday.
"The people here are very concerned that there is a lot of fuel on the ferry that could come up at any time and contaminate the resources that the community relies on," marine biologist Chris Picard told The Province.
Marven Robinson spotted the patch while out on a whale survey.
Robinson said that the community harvested only seaweed -- shunning their traditional shellfish -- for a full year after the sinking.
But eating any of the food has been hard, he said.
"In the back of your mind, [you're] wondering 'Is it OK to be consuming the foods we need?'" he said.
Health authorities have told the community the contamination risk had passed but, with Friday's sighting, Robinson said he's not so sure.
"We got to worry about where we're going to be harvesting for the next few years," he said.
A Canadian Coast Guard report concluded the ferry's rapid descent to 400 metres would have imploded the fuel tanks and dispersed fuel throughout the vessel. It said it would be difficult at that depth to determine how much fuel remained aboard and called a successful recovery "unlikely."
B.C. Ferries announced in late April it would not attempt recovery of remaining fuel and has made no response to coast guard recommendations that it stash pollution equipment at Hartley Bay and train villagers to use it.
The decision prompted anger in the community.
Picard said the community has asked for the data the company used to make its decision. He said the village wanted a third party to examine it.
The request was made three months ago, Picard said. The company initially agreed to provide the data but hasn't done so, he added.
Band chief Bob Hill has said the village is contemplating legal action.
mlittle@png.canwest.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment