Oil Spill Reported in the Great Bear Rainforest
Gitga’at Nation Reports Large Spill Believed to Be From Sunken Munitions Ship; Calls on Federal Government for Immediate Response and Full Clean-Up
Marketwire, May 02, 2012
HARTLEY BAY, BRITISH COLUMBIA – The Gitga’at Nation of Hartley Bay is reporting an oil spill, between two and five miles long and 200 feet wide inside the Grenville Channel, not far from the proposed tanker route for the Enbridge Gateway pipeline. The spill was spotted by a commercial pilot and reported to the Gitga’at Nation and the Canadian Coast Guard yesterday evening.
A Coast Guard landing craft from Prince Rupert is on its way to the spill, and expected to arrive by 12pm. The Gitga’at are sending their own Guardians to take samples and have chartered a plane to take aerial photos of the spill.
“If this spill is as big as the pilots are reporting, then we’re looking at serious environmental impacts, including threats to our traditional shellfish harvesting areas,” says Arnold Clifton, Chief Councillor of the Gitga’at Nation. “We need an immediate and full clean-up response from the federal government ASAP.”
Heavy oil, known as “bunker c” is thought to be upwelling from the USAT Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski, a U.S. army transport ship that sank in 1946 with 700 tonnes of bunker fuel on board. The Canadian government has been saying it would remove the oil and munitions from the ship since 2006, but with no results.
“Right now we’re focused on getting a handle on the size of the spill and the clean-up that’s required,” says Clifton. “But this incident definitely raises questions about the federal government’s ability to guard against oil spills and to honour its clean-up obligations. As a result, our nation has serious concerns about any proposal to have tankers travel through our coastal waters, including the Enbridge proposal.”
The spill is just the latest in a series of spills of bunker oil and diesel coming from the Zalinski and the BC Ferry Queen of the North, which sank in 2006. Despite government assurances of clean-up, both wreckages continue to leak fuel, fouling the marine environment, and heightening the fear of future oil spills.
The Gitga’at depend on the ocean for 40% of their traditional diet.
Photos of the spill are available here, with aerial photos and b-roll expected shortly:
http://andrewfrank.ca/2012/05/02/oil-spill-reported-in-the-great-bear-rainforest/
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/oil-spill-reported-in-the-great-bear-rainforest-1651968.htm
Posted on May 2, 2012, in Oil & Gas and tagged BC coast oil spill, Gitga'at Nation, Hartley Bay, oil spill. Bookmark the permalink. 2 Comments.
Warrior Publications 
it amazes me how these kinds of incidents dont get reported across the country, if at all……..the government continues to prove their dictatorship, and push through with their agenda. The media belong to them too, and if we do hear anything about this, it will be about how the Canadian government cleaned up the mess, not how long it took or how their promises are all false….. its a shame. My prayers and spirit are with all indigenous peoples and their fight to reclaim the land.
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