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Squamish fuel spill fouls estuary, Howe Sound

Two-thirds of fuel recovered but estuary hard hit
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Norwegian cargo ship Westwood Anette hit terminal pilings Friday, spilling bunker fuel into the area. Photo by Maureen Provencal

“It’s like déjà vu all over again,” Minister of Environment Barry Penner said in Squamish Saturday afternoon.

Penner had just completed a helicopter tour of Howe Sound and Squamish estuary, hard hit by Friday’s 30,000-litre fuel spill from a Norwegian cargo ship. Penner was referring to the fact that the spill occurred on the one-year anniversary of a CN train derailment and caustic soda spill into the Cheakamus River.

Penner said the spill was not huge but still significant.

“I was surprised at how far south and how quickly some of the fuel managed to make it in 24 hours. I could see it along the eastern side of Highway 99, on shore in little bays and in bigger blobs out in Howe Sound,” Penner said.

The 200-metre long Westwood Anette, guided by a B.C. coast pilot, was reversing away from port in a restrictive narrow area between docks and dikes about 2:30 p.m. Friday when strong south winds pushed her back toward port. Although dock fenders were in place, dolphin pilings punched two, six-inch diameter holes through the steel-plated hull, puncturing one fuel tank in the process.

Kiteboard instructor Alex Noke-Smith, 34, was teaching a student 100 metres from Squamish’s port terminal at the time of the spill. He initially thought a wind shadow was approaching.

“Then all of a sudden the waves went from whitecaps to black and I was like, we have to get out of here right away.”

Noke-Smith, the student and another kiteboarder were caught in the bunker sea fuel that spilled from the vessel after it was swept back into terminal pilings. Coated in oil that seeped under their suits, the kiteboarders made it safely to shore but were taken to hospital, treated for eye irritation and cleaned up.

By Sunday morning, two-thirds of the spill had been recovered from around the Squamish dock area with vacuum pumps and portable and ship-based skimmers.

A portion of the nearby Squamish estuary, home to Canada geese, cormorants, herons and mallards, was hard hit. Bunker sea fuel, which does not evaporate or decompose as rapidly as diesel fuel, could be seen one kilometre from the ship reaching hundreds of metres up estuary side channels. A flock of 80-100 oil-coated Canada Geese gathered in mud flats amidst an overwhelming smell of bunker fuel.

Brian Clark, a Ministry of Environment biologist leading the response efforts, said there were no reports of dead birds from the spill and asked the public to report any distressed birds to a designated telephone line put in place Saturday, but asked that oil-soaked birds not be approached or handled. Plans are being discussed as how best to capture affected birds and have them cleaned at a wildlife refuge.

Gary Smith, Alex Noke-Smith’s father, was at the scene and said initial response was slow and inadequate.

“The little boom they showed up with at first was enough to contain maybe 50 gallons, not 30,000,” Smith said. More inflatable booms put in place around the ship by response crews and at mouths of estuary side channels didn’t show up for several hours, he said.

Squamish acting mayor Mike Jenson said he was initially frustrated with response efforts. Told at first it was a minor diesel spill, when he discovered it was a major bunker sea fuel spill his first thought was for the estuary and beach areas.

“It was quite disconcerting at 7 a.m. (Saturday morning) when I went down and saw the thick ooze at low tide.”

District of Squamish environment staff are working with Ministry of Environment, Canadian Coast Guard, Canadian Wildlife Service and the ship’s owners, who have contracted Vancouver-based Burrard Clean Operations to undertake containment and clean-up efforts. Transport Canada, Environment Canada, and Transportation Safety Board investigators are looking into causes of the accident.

Coast Guard’s Don Rodden said the amount of oil recovered is impressive.

“Usually, for a spill of this significance, recovery is in the vicinity of 10-20 per cent. From that perspective the recovery has been very successful.”

Environment’s Brian Clark said care has been taken to ensure response worker safety in and around the terminal, contaminated by mercury in its years as an industrial port.

“We did raise the issue of mercury in sludge and looked at it but it’s not a concern. Mercury, if any, is at very small levels and deep in sediments,” Mr. Clark said.

Clark said it could be a week before remaining free-floating oil can be recovered and transferred to storage tanks before being disposed of at an appropriate facility. Estuary clean-up efforts will take longer. Although initial plans were to cut oil-soaked sedges and grasses back to ground level, Clark had revised that plan by Sunday.

“Grasses have proved so effective in stopping oil from coming in any further to the marsh that we’ve decided to leave the grass up and concentrate on cleaning the foreshore area.” Clark said once free floating oil is fully contained grasses will be cut back. He predicted the affected area, about one square kilometre, will restore itself by fall.

Kiteboard instructor Noke-Smith isn’t so sure. After spending close to an hour Friday in a hospital shower cleaning himself of bunker fuel, he said his worries are not for himself or for his business.

“That (Friday) morning I’d been sitting on the rocks at the spit watching two seals fighting over a salmon, two ospreys diving for something and a stupid little seagull trying to get some of the salmon,” Noke-Smith said. “And all I can think to myself now is, am I going to get to see that again?”