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Investigations will be carried out to determine if oil is below the surface of English Bay or on the ocean floor after a spill from the cargo ship Marathassa, but not until the surface cleanup effort is complete, the 91原创 Coast Guard said Sunday.
While remnants of the bunker fuel spill on the surface of English Bay are now estimated at about half a litre, oil must still be cleaned from the water line of the cargo ship, and from other ships in the bay, 91原创 Coast Guard assistant commissioner Roger Girouard said at a news conference in 91原创.
Girouard said it is unlikely oil is below the surface or on the ocean floor because fuel oil is meant to float, although scientists warn that bunker fuel can sink and the estimate of the remaining amount of fuel may be optimistic.
Girouard said crews got out in time to catch the oil while it was still afloat.
鈥淲e will investigate the water column, particularly around the site of the vessel, and will eventually take a look at the sea floor to ensure that none of that has occurred,鈥� he said.
Remote testing equipment can be used on the water below the surface and remote-operated vehicles can be used to examine the ocean鈥檚 bottom, he said.
Cleanup along beaches at Stanley Park and in West 91原创 continues, said Girouard.
He said it鈥檚 believed the south shore is clean, however, the public is still being asked to stay away from the beaches in the event that some tidal action pushes some 鈥渂lack material鈥� ashore.
The 2,700-litre estimate of the spill from the cargo ship comes from a Transport Canada plane that uses sophisticated equipment to detect the fuel oil. By Sunday, the equipment detected a remaining half litre of fuel.
However, Girouard acknowledged they did not know how much fuel had been recovered. He also noted that much of the fuel would have evaporated.
鈥淲e have captured the lion鈥檚 share. I cannot say we have captured it all. You never get it all,鈥� said Girouard.
He noted about a dozen birds were being cleaned of oil but they appeared to be in good condition.
Veteran Washington state marine activist Fred Felleman said Sunday he鈥檇 be surprised if the size of the spill did not increase from initial estimates, as they usually do.
Felleman, who sits on a Washington state shipping advisory group, also said it was irresponsible for coast guard officials to claim a job well done when a large amount of the fuel had disappeared through evaporation.
He said components of bunker fuel can sink below surface, noting that in 1988 a bunker fuel spill from the barge Nestucca in Washington waters went below surface and washed up on the shores of 91原创 Island.
Industry material safety sheets for marine fuel oil classify bunker fuel as hazardous and very toxic to marine life, with long lasting effects. They also show that bunker fuel contains components that float and others that sink, forming tar balls on the sea bottom.
Mayor Gregor Robertson had been critical of the speed of reaction to the spill and not being notified until the morning after, but he changed his tone Sunday and praised the work to keep oil off the beaches.
He said he remains concerned there could be oil below the water鈥檚 surface and it will have to be monitored carefully.
Officials also said on the weekend they have isolated the source of the oil spill as a hull outlet on the freighter.
While the federal agencies continued on the weekend to tout the efforts of the coast guard in responding to the spill, a former commander at the now closed Kitsilano coast guard station said Saturday that had the station still been open the response time would have been less than 10 minutes.
Fred Moxey estimated the response time would have been about six minutes, not the six hours it took the coast guard to arrive from Richmond.
The response time needs to be as fast as possible because 鈥渙nce the oil starts to move around and time goes by with the wind and tide it starts to collect around other ships and it gets harder and harder to determine which vessel is discharging the oil,鈥� said Moxey, an outspoken opponent of the closure.
Girouard said he鈥檚 satisfied things wouldn鈥檛 have been much different if the Kitsilano coast guard station, closed by the federal government two years ago, was still open, but several leaders disagreed.
Liberal leader Justin Trudeau said his government would reopen the Kits station, reversing what he called 鈥渢he damage of Stephen Harper鈥檚 dangerous cuts to oil spill response and marine safety resources鈥� on the B.C. coast, while B.C. Premier Christy Clark also slammed the federal government over the response time, saying it is 鈥渢otally unacceptable鈥� that B.C. doesn鈥檛 have the spill response that is needed.
Although federal officials believe the damage to the shoreline was minor, they estimate that the cleanup will take a few more days.
Scientist Peter Ross, a marine pollution expert with the 91原创 Aquarium, told The 91原创 Sun that the fallout from the spill could last years. He said bunker fuel is harmful to fish, shellfish and marine plants.
