Past spill incidents
Last updated on March 28, 2023These archived overviews are not situation reports, but summaries about the incident location, scale, cause, response actions, and environmental impacts.
Incident Overviews April 2016 - Earlier
| Incident Date | Name | Source | Nearest Community | Last Update | Spilled Content |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 2016 | Esquimalt Harbour (PDF) | Barge | Esquimalt | May 11/16 | Diesel |
| Apr. 26, 2016 | Shumway Lake | Truck | Kamloops | Apr. 26/16 | Vehicle Fluids |
| Apr. 4, 2016 | Similkameen Falls (PDF) | Truck | Princeton | Apr. 8/16 | Fuel |
| Mar. 2, 2016 | Mt. Robson (PDF) | Truck | Prince George | Mar. 11/16 | Fuel |
| Oct. 15, 2016 | Seaforth Channel | Tug | Bella Bella | Nov. 21/16 | Fuel |
Mount Polley Mine Tailings Pond Breach, Likely, April 2014
Details can be found on the Mount Polley Incident page.
CN Metallurgical Coal Derailment, Burnaby, January 11, 2014
| Date of Incident: | January 11, 2014 |
| Location: | Silver Creek, The Brunettee River and Burnaby Lake |
| Product/Quantity: | Approximately 270 tons of metallurgical coal |
| Cause: | Three rail cars travelling on a CN rail line derailed, spilling approximately 270 tons of metallurgical coal. A smaller volume of coal entered Silver Creek, which flows to the Brunette River and Burnaby Lake. CN is required to develop and implement a plan to assess potential impacts and plan for any restoration and remediation at the site of the derailment. After the Ministry and other agencies reviewed the Recovery Plan, CN began recovery work in Silver Creek, the Brunette River and Burnaby Lake in February 2014. |
| Reports |
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Brigadier General M.G. Zalinksi Oil Recovery, July 2013
Visit the M.G. Zalinksi Oil Recovery page for more information.
Lemon Creek Jet A1 Fuel Spill, July 26, 2013
Details can be found on the Lemon Creek incident page.
Rio Tinto Alcan Intermodal Hopper Kitimat to Prince George – Smelting By-product Spill, March 19, 2012
| Time/Date of Incident: | Tuesday March 19th, 2012 @ 16:30 |
| Location: | CN Rail tracks from Kitimat to Prince George |
| Product/Quantity: | More than 1200Kg of Alumina and fine bath a by-product of aluminum smelting |
| Cause: | An intermodal hopper that was damaged was loaded with several tons of alumina and fine bath at the Rio Tinto Alcan smelter in Kitimat and loaded on a train. The damage to the hopper unit prevented it from being securely closed. As the train pulled the rail car from Kitimat to Prince George it would release the product to the rail bed when jostled. The faulty unit was discovered in Prince George and the rail car was ordered out of Service by Transport Canada. |
Arrow Transportation Hopper Truck – Copper Ore Concentrate and Diesel, Feb 21, 2012
| Time/Date of Incident: | Thursday February 21st, 2012 @ 14:00 |
| Location: | Intersection of Likely and Mountain House Roads. North East of Williams Lake BC |
| Product/Quantity: | 30,000Kg of Copper Ore Concentrate and approximately 300 litres of diesel |
| Cause: |
A single vehicle motor vehicle incident occurred involving a “B” train Ore Concentrate truck. The vehicle was travelling south from a mine site on Likely Road to a rail collection facility when the incident occurred. It rolled down an embankment and into a marshy area of a small creek. The driver was uninjured in the collision. The incident resulted in the fine material dumping out of the truck and in to the water course. The material being very dense was mostly contained to the immediate area. |
CN Rail Coal Train Valemount – Derailment and Coal Spill, January 3, 2011
| Time/Date of Incident: | Monday January 3rd, 2011 @ 01:00 |
| Location: | Tete Jaune Cache |
| Product/Quantity: | 33 Rail Cars – Up to a million kg of coal per car |
| Cause: | A derailment of a coal train resulted in 33 rail cars leaving the tracks. The derailment occurred immediately adjacent to the Fraser River. No significant amounts of product entered the river. A small marsh that drains into the Fraser River was directly impacted. The product was collected to be reprocessed. |
Superior Propane and Penner International Commercial Transport Trucks – Diesel and Propane, January 14th, 2011
| Time/Date of Incident: | Friday January 14th, 2011 @ 20:00 |
| Location: | Yellowhead Lake, 10km West of BC / Alberta Boarder on Hwy 16 |
| Product/Quantity: | Small amounts of Propane and more than 1600 liters of diesel |
| Cause: | A motor vehicle incident involving three commercial transport trucks. Two were not carrying dangerous good and the third was an empty propane truck. Weather conditions were extremely poor at the time of the incident. One driver was killed in the accident. The incident ruptured the fuel tanks on two of the trucks, spilling the diesel to the road way and ditches. While the propane truck was considered empty it still had a small amount of product on board, specialized crews were dispatched to flair off the remaining product to ensure the vehicle could be handled safely. |
CN Rail Coal Train Fort Fraser – Derailment and Coal Spill, Feb 12, 2011
| Time/Date of Incident: | Saturday February 12th, 2011 @ 18:39 |
| Location: | East of Fort Fraser |
| Product/Quantity: | 34 Rail Cars – Up to a million kg of Coal per car |
| Cause: | A derailment of a coal train bound for Prince Rupert resulted in 34 rail cars leaving the tracks. Most of the product left the rail cars either during the accident or during clean up operations. The product was contained to dry land and collected to be reprocessed. |
Mackenzie Pulp Mill Tank Failure – Pulp Stock, Feb 16, 2011
| Time/Date of Incident: | Saturday February 16th, 2011 @ 16:00 |
| Location: | Mackenzie Pulp Mill |
| Product/Quantity: | Approximately 180,000 Liters – 3000 Liters outside of containment |
| Cause: | The catastrophic failure of a tank containing pulp stock inside of the pulp mill. The majority of the product was contained inside the building while approximately 3000 liters spilled through a doorway and in to the mill yard. |
Columbia Fuels Tank Truck Goldstream River – Gasoline and Diesel Spill, April 16, 2011
| Time/Date of Incident: | Saturday April 16th, 2011 @ 18:00 |
| Location: | Goldstream Provincial Park north of Victoria, British Columba |
| Product/Quantity: | 42,778 litres gasoline and approximately 700 litres of diesel |
| Cause: | A single vehicle motor vehicle incident occurred involving a “B” train fuel tanker truck. The vehicle was travelling south on the Trans-Canada Highway when the incident occurred. It rolled on its side and collided with the mountain side. The driver was uninjured in the collision. The incident ruptured the fuel tankers being transported. This fuel spilled to the ground and entered the sensitive habitat of the Goldstream River, estuary and the marine environment of Finlayson Arm. |
| Reports: |
The Goldstream Fuel Spill (PDF/2.89 MB): A report outlining the incident; initial report; ecological implications; monitoring; technical working group; restoration and future work; and environmental stewardship. |
Zinc Concentrate Spill - Strohn Lake – Bear Glacier Provincial Park, November 1, 2011
| Time/Date of Incident: | November 1, 2011 @ 11:18hrs |
| Location: | Approximately 35 km west of Stewart, BC on Highway 37A - Strohn Lake, Bear Glacier Provincial Park |
| Product/Quantity: | 49 tons of Zinc Concentrate and approximately 300 litres of diesel and miscellaneous vehicle fluids |
| Cause: | On November 1, 2011 a zinc concentrate truck operated by Maple Leaf Loading Inc. left Highway 37A and crashed into Strohn Lake in Bear Glacier Provincial Park. The truck and trailers were transporting the zinc concentrate from the Wolverine Mine near Watson Lake, Yukon to the Port of Stewart. The driver managed to escape with minor injuries. |
| Reports: |
Bear Glacier Provincial Park - Zinc Concentrate Spill (PDF/849 KB): A report outlining the incident; initial report; ecological implications; monitoring; technical working group; restoration and future work; and environmental stewardship. |
Tiger Calcium Services Prince George – Overfilled Tank, Nov 9, 2010
| Time/Date of Incident: | Tuesday November 9th, 2010 @ 14:40 |
| Location: | Otway Road, Prince George |
| Product/Quantity: | 200 – 1000 Liters - Calcium Chloride |
| Cause: | A driver of a tanker truck was filling a storage tank and failed to realize that the tank was full and spilling to ground. The product was contained within a berm that was built around the tank. |
Mackenzie Pulp Mill (Worthington Pulp Mill) – Chlorine Dioxide Release, February 21, 2009
| Time/Date of Incident: | The incident was reported on February 21, 2009. A leak occurred earlier in the week and repairs were made twice; however, the repair failed late Saturday night resulting in a more significant leak. |
| Location: | 5 kilometres South West of the town of Mackenzie. |
| Product/Quantity: | An estimated 1000 gallons of Chlorine Dioxide released over the course of a week. |
| Cause: | An intermittent leak from a valve on a chlorine dioxide tank caused approximately 1000 gallons of Chlorine Dioxide (1% solution) to spill to the ground. 5 residences and 30 employees were evacuated from the area while repairs to the valve took place. The incident resulted in no injuries to the public or to mill employees. The tank was repaired late on February 22, 2009. |
Spectra Energy – Sour Gas Release, February 20, 2009
| Time/Date of Incident: | February 20, 2009 @ 08.02 |
| Location: | Approximately 400 meters from the Alaska Highway near Mile 111 of the Alaska highway. The incident location is approximately 10 miles north of Wonowon. |
| Product/Quantity: | Sour gas release |
| Cause: | There was a malfunction involving a pigging barrel receiving site near Mile 111 of the Alaska Highway. An 18 inch sour gas gathering line that runs to the Taylor gas plant ruptured. The release was isolated by Emergency Shutoff Devices (ESD’s) and manual shut off valves. The quantity of sour gas (H2S) released during the incident was unavailable for the initial incident reports. The Alaska Highway was closed for duration of the incident. The cause of the line malfunction is under investigation. |
Prince George Chlorine Dioxide Spill – Prince George, February 1, 2009
| Time/Date of Incident: | February 1, 2009 @ 03.37 |
| Location: | Approximately 10 kilometres N.E. of Prince George on the railway tracks between the Intercontinental Pulp Mill and the Prince George Pulp & Paper Mill. The spill site is 1 kilometre from the Fraser River. |
| Product/Quantity: | Calculation conducted by the Responsible Party (RP) indicated approximately 14 cubic meters of chlorine dioxide solution was released. |
| Cause: | A transfer line between the two mills broke during the transfer of a chlorine dioxide solution. The solution released to the ground. The RP activated its emergency plan to contain and neutralize the material. Impacted soil has been removed from the area. The cause of the line break is under investigation. |
| Media Releases: |
Ken Johnson Trucking – Sodium Hydrosulphide Spill, November 23, 2008
| Time/Date of Incident: | November 23, 2008 @ 18.30hrs |
| Location: | 67 km on the Morice - Nadina Forest Service Road approximately 75 km south of Houston, BC |
| Product/Quantity: | 24,400 kg of Sodium Hydrosulphide |
| Cause: | Sodium Hydrosulphide Spill (PDF/401 KB): On November 23, 2008 a Ken Johnson Trucking Ltd tractor and chemical tanker was involved in a single motor vehicle accident while on route to Huckleberry Mine site south of Houston, BC. The tractor and chemical tanker rolled over into a ditch and as a result a large gash occurred to the front passenger portion of the tanker releasing all contents into the ditch which flowed down the ditch and partially through a culvert and into a small marshy lake environment. |
Robson Bight Barge Incident, August 20, 2007
| Time/Date of Incident: | August 20, 2007 - approximately 1200 hours | ||||||
| Location: | Robson Bight (Michael Bigg) Ecological Reserve (approx. N50° 29. 738; W126° 34.975) | ||||||
| Product/Quantity: | Several vehicles, a fuel truck, an excavator, and other logging supplies. The fuel truck was carrying 10,000 litres of diesel fuel. Other hazardous materials of concern include gasoline and hydraulic fluid. | ||||||
| Cause: | While transiting Johnstone Strait, the Ted Leroy Trucking Ltd.'s barge (Crown Forest 84-12) listed and drifted into the Robson Bight (Michael Bigg) Ecological Reserve. The contents of the barge spilled to the marine environment settling to a depth of approximately 360 metres. | ||||||
| Environmental Setting and Impacts: |
Approximately 62 square kilometres of the marine environment was impacted when a barge listed and consequently dumped its cargo into the Johnstone Strait. The actual release of diesel and other petroleum products (gasoline, hydraulic fuels) occurred within the Robson Bight ecological reserve (approximately N50° 29.738; W126° 34.975). The product spread westward 12 to 14 nautical miles (nm) and northerly across the strait (1.5 nm). As the spilled products were non-persistent, the sensitive ecology of the Johnstone Strait experienced discontinuous sheen coverage and for a few days — sun and waves dissipated it quickly. The up-welling of product essentially ceased by late afternoon on August 22nd, none of the product was recoverable. The only tactical action was placing protective booming around exposed Orca whale rubbing-beaches. An on-going monitoring program was established in order to be response-ready if any product should reappear in the ecological reserve. The ecological reserve was established in 1982 in recognition of the importance of this area to killer whales. An upland buffer zone was subsequently added to provide further protection for the whales, increasing the total park size to 5,460 hectares. It is located 20 km south of Telegraph Cove in Johnstone Strait. |
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| Response Participants: |
Responsible Party 2
Lead Agencies 3
Primary Participating Contractors and other Agencies
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| Response Summary/Closure: |
The B.C. Ministry of Environment, as the lead provincial ministry for hazardous material and oil spills, established a Command Post at Port McNeill staffed by representatives from the B.C. Ministry of Environment, Environment Canada and the Namgis First Nation. The Canadian Coast Guard provided a liaison officer at the Command Post to coordinate the response. Burrard Clean Operations had been conducting on-water containment and recovery attempts of the oil in the ecological reserve. Other contractors and agencies (included in the list above) have been working on clean-up and other response activities including a recovery plan for the fuel truck containing 10,000 litres of diesel. The Ministry of Environment had dispatched both regional staff and members of the Provincial Incident Management Team to address both overall management of the response efforts and to provide specific response functions including shoreline clean-up and assessment, incipient management and investigative activities. |
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| Footnotes: |
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Burnaby Oil Spill, July 24, 2007
| Time/Date of Incident: | July 24, 2007 - 1230 hours | ||||||
| Location: | Barnett Highway in Burnaby | ||||||
| Product/Quantity: | Crude Oil - approximately 234,000 litres | ||||||
| Cause: | A Kinder Morgan crude oil pipeline connecting their Burnaby Tank Farm to the Westridge Marine Terminal was punctured by a construction crew digging along the Barnett Highway. | ||||||
| Environmental Setting and Impacts: |
Approximately 50 homes, property, and a section of the Barnett Highway were impacted when the 24 inch pipeline was ruptured, resulting in a 30 meter geyser of oil spraying into the air and covering the surrounding area with oil over approximately a 25 minute period. Subsequently the oil seeped into the surrounding soil, storm drains, sewer lines and along other down gradient pathways. The oil moving through the storm drain system eventually reached the marine waters of Burrard Inlet below the spill site where it began to spread further with wind and tides. 11 homes were severely impacted with oiling and numerous residents have been displaced from the area. The Barnett highway was closed for several days due to the oil covering the area and the need for cleanup activities. The marine environment in Burrard Inlet and approximately 1200 meters of shoreline have also been affected. A number of birds have also been impacted after coming in contact with the oil. Additional impacts are also likely due to the ongoing nature of the event at the current time. Ministry staff continue to assess and monitor the situation, provide technical expertise to the response efforts, and ensure appropriate cleanup is carried out. |
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| Response Participants: |
Responsible Party 2
Lead Agencies 3
Primary Participating Contractors and other Agencies
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| Response Summary/Closure: |
The BC Ministry of Environment, as the lead ministry for hazardous material and oil spills, established Unified Command with the Responsible Party and the National Energy Board to coordinate the response efforts under the Incident Command System. Burrard Clean Operations has been conducting on-water containment and recovery of oil in Burrard Inlet. Other contractors and agencies (included in the list above) have been working on clean-up and other response activities on both land and water. The Ministry of Environment has dispatched both regional staff and members of the Provincial Incident Management Team to address both overall management of the response efforts and to provide specific response functions including waste management issues, shoreline cleanup and assessment, and investigation activities. |
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| Footnotes: |
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M/V Westwood Anette Freighter Oil Spill – Squamish, August 4, 2006
| Time/Date of Incident: | August 4, 2006 - 15:00 hours | ||||||
| Location: | Squamish dock terminal, just north of Vancouver. | ||||||
| Product/Quantity: | Crude Oil - approximately 234,000 litres | ||||||
| Cause: | The M/V Westwood Anette, departing under tow from the Squamish docks during high wind conditions, punctured a starboard fuel tank on a metal piling. | ||||||
| Environmental Setting and Impacts: |
The high winds blew the oil on the shore near the terminal and into the estuary of the Squamish River. The estuary marshes were heavily contaminated, whereas there was only minor oiling up Howe Sound. Several Canadian Geese were oiled. The high sediment contents of the marine water promoted natural cleaning of both the oil shorelines and marsh grasses. Impact assessment and monitoring continued throughout the winter. |
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| Response Participants: |
Responsible Party 2
Lead Agencies 3
Primary Participating Contractors and other Agencies
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| Response Summary/Closure: | The Ministry of Environment was on site to assist with the cleanup of the oil spill and unified command was established with the Responsible Party. Burrard Clean Operations was the Response Organization. Booms and skimmers were used to contain the spill and remove mobile oil. Several Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Teams (SCAT) were activated to assess the level of shoreline contamination. A workforce was established to clean up stranded oil on beaches and in the marsh. Efforts to rescue the wildlife affected were also undertaken. An Environmental Impact Assessment was prepared to gauge the full effects of the spill. | ||||||
| Footnotes: |
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M/V Queen of the North Ferry Sinking and Oil Spill – Gil Island, March 22, 2006
| Time/Date of Incident: | At approximately 12:25 am on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 the Queen of the North ran aground. The vessel sank approximately 1 hour afterward. | ||||||
| Location: | While travelling from Prince Rupert to Port Hardy, the Queen of the North sank after running aground on Gil Island in Wright Sound, 135 Kilometres south of Prince Rupert. | ||||||
| Product/Quantity: | The vessel was loaded with 225,000 litres of diesel fuel, 15,000 litres of light oil, 3,200 litres of hydraulic fluid and 3,200 litres of stern tube oil. | ||||||
| Cause: | The spill was caused by the sinking of the Ferry after it hit Gill Island then drifted offshore and sank releasing much of its fuel product. | ||||||
| Environmental Setting and Impacts: | Wright Sound and surrounding area is rich in marine life. It is a major vessel transportation route of the Inside Passage. The coastal waters are important for First Nations’ fisheries and economies. There were minimal impacts on wildlife as the initial large release of product – mostly diesel - quickly evaporated and dispersed during high wind and warm periods shortly after the spill. The on-going chronic discharges and remaining oil from and in the ferry remains as an environmental concern. | ||||||
| Response Participants: |
Responsible Party 2
Lead Agencies 3
Primary Participating Contractors and other Agencies
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| Response Summary/Closure: | An Incident Management Team was activated on the morning of March 22, 2006 and established and Incident Command Post at Prince Rupert. The team worked to establish booms at numerous sites, including where fuel was welling-up over the sunken vessel. Over 5000 feet of containment boom was set up in four sensitive areas. A Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Team (SCAT) was also activated. A long-term environmental monitoring plan was formulated that will involve members from both the Hartley Bay and Kitkatla First Nations and environmental agencies. | ||||||
| Footnotes: |
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CN Coal Train Derailment – Lytton, Fraser River, July 31, 2006
| Time/Date of Incident: | July 31, 2006 - approximately 23:00 hours | ||||||
| Location: | Thompson River, near Lytton, BC. | ||||||
| Product/Quantity: | 800 tonnes of metallurgical coal are estimated to have been dumped into the river. | ||||||
| Cause: | The spill was due to a train derailment on a CN Railway line (the train was a CP Rail train). A total of twenty cars derailed, with eight remaining on the bridge structure and twelve falling into the Thompson River. Each of the railcars had a capacity of 120 tonnes. | ||||||
| Environmental Setting and Impacts: | The spill occurred during the late summer sockeye and chinook salmon run. No significant impacts were noted on fish. A “no consumption” advisory was released by Fisheries and Oceans Canada that was later rescinded. Rafting companies in area were also affected. The formal Environmental Impact Assessment report (EIA) will be released once cleanup is complete and all data is collected. | ||||||
| Response Participants: |
Responsible Party 2
Lead Agencies 3
Primary Participating Contractors and other Agencies
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| Response Summary/Closure: | CN Rail, as owner of the rail line and responsible party, established an Incident Command Post (ICP) at the CN office on River Road in Lytton. An Incident Management Team was set up to deal with the emergency. Rail cars were removed from the bridge and an advisory notice was issued to avoid consumption of fish in the area until an analysis of samples was completed. CPR took control of the recovery of spilled coal and environmental issues, including the preparation of the EIA. The removal of coal and rail cars from the river will be completed in the near future. | ||||||
| News Releases and Information Bulletins: | Information Bulletin - August 3, 2006 | ||||||
| Footnotes: |
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CN Train Derailment and Sodium Hydroxide Spill – Cheakamus River, August 5, 2005
| Time/Date of Incident: | August 5, 2005 - 07:15 hours | ||||||
| Location: | The Cheakamus River canyon, north of Squamish (mile 56.6). | ||||||
| Product/Quantity: | Sodium Hydroxide (common names: caustic soda or lye) - 40,000 litres of 73% solution | ||||||
| Cause of Spill: | The spill was due to a train derailment. A total of nine cars derailed, including a car carrying sodium hydroxide solution. | ||||||
| Environmental Setting and Impacts: | The spill occurred in a sensitive river environment home to many species of fish and wildlife. The impacts of the spill on the fish species were devastating, as virtually all free swimming fish occupying the Cheakamus River at the time of the spill were killed. More than 500,000 adult and young salmon, steelhead, trout, lamprey and other species died of suffocation from skin burns and gill haemorrhaging. Birds and animals that rely on the Cheakamus salmon for food were also affected by the spill. Restoration planning began shortly after the incident. | ||||||
| Response Participants: |
Responsible Party 2
Lead Agencies 3
Primary Participating Contractors and other Agencies
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| Response Summary/Closure: |
The spill response was led by CN Rail. An Incident Command Post - with unified command between BC Ministry of Environment and CNR - was established at the Squamish Emergency Operations Centre. Residents with wells along the affected portion of the river were notified of possible well contamination. To help restore fish populations, angling closures were placed on the Cheakamus and MamQuam rivers and a portion of the Squamish River. Restoration of the Cheakamus river is expected be a long process. A comprehensive impact assessment and recommendations on restoration strategies for all species affected were prepared by the Cheakamus Ecosystem Restoration Technical Committee. |
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| News Releases and Information Bulletins: |
Other
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| Footnotes: |
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Pembina Pipeline Oil Spill – Pine River, August 1, 2000
| Time/Date of Incident: | August 1, 2000 - 01:20 hours | ||||||
| Location: | Incident occurred on the Pine River, about 110 km upstream of the community of Chetwynd. The Pine River flows into the Peace River. | ||||||
| Product/Quantity: | Light crude oil — approximately 985 cubic metres (6200 barrels) | ||||||
| Cause of Spill: | A pipeline transporting oil from Taylor to Kamloops ruptured. | ||||||
| Environmental Setting and Impacts: | The environmental impact included mortality to fish, insects and some wildlife. The river water supply to the District of Chetwynd was shut off and the use of many groundwater wells near the river was discontinued. | ||||||
| Response Participants: |
Responsible Party 2
Lead Agencies 3
Primary Participating Contractors and other Agencies
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| Response Summary/Closure: | The spill response was managed by Pembina Pipeline Corporation. This spill was one of the most expensive inland pipeline oil spill in Canadian history. The company has spent over $30,000,000 and the local government and provincial agencies were also heavily impacted. The product recovery rate was high: 450 m3 removed from the river, 415 m3 removed in contaminated soil and about 80 m3 spread throughout the environment. | ||||||
| News Releases and Information Bulletins: | |||||||
| Footnotes: |
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M/V Nestucca Barge Oil Spill – Gray's Harbour, WA, December 22, 1988
| Time/Date of Incident: | December 23, 1988 in the early morning. | ||||||
| Location: | The collision occurred approximately 3 kilometres off the coast of Washington, near Gray’s Harbor. Oil came ashore in discontinuous patches mainly in Canada on Vancouver Island - from near Victoria in the southeast to near Cape Scott in the north. | ||||||
| Product/Quantity: | An estimated 874 000 litres (5500 barrels) of Bunker C oil. | ||||||
| Cause of Spill: | The tug Ocean Services rammed and holed its tow — the tanker barge Nestucca — off Gray's Harbour, Washington. | ||||||
| Environmental Setting and Impacts: | The prevailing winter winds drifted the spilled oil along the scenic west coast of Vancouver Island in BC. Numerous beaches were oiled and many sensitive shoreline ecosystems suffered damage. Reports indicated that as many as 56,000 seabirds were killed. Many crab and shellfish populations were oiled in addition to herring spawning areas. Traditional native fishing practices were affected due to the contamination of the shoreline. | ||||||
| Response Participants: |
Responsible Party 2
Lead Agencies 3
Primary Participating Contractors and other Agencies
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| Response Summary/Closure: | There was no attempt made at open water recovery by Canadian or U.S. authorities. High seas and currents precluded the use of containment booms. An inter-agency response to the incident helped to reduce the damage caused by the spill. An outcome of the Nestucca oil spill — and the Exxon Valdez spill that occurred 3 months afterwards — was the development of Shoreline Cleanup and Assessment Teams. These teams assist in the process of assessing and recommending cleanup/treatment and/or constraints for each shoreline unit affected and also determine end-points for cleanup. The internationally used and proven Incident Command System (ICS) was adopted by the Ministry of Environment — and by 1995 for the province — as the incident management organization for spills and other emergencies. | ||||||
| Footnotes: |
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