An oil spill that happened early Wednesday morning in the Nanaimo Harbour is contained.
Canadian Coast Guard deputy superintendent for marine and hazard response officer, Mattew Walker said the incident happened around 6 a.m. and it didn’t take long before crews were activated to contain the spill.
“An undetermined amount of containment was released on the deck of the MV Maipo River during the fuel transfer operation,” he says. “An unconfirmed amount of fuel made its way into the marine environment, but the majority of it was contained on the ship.”
Walker says there is no timeframe yet as to when crews will cease their cleanup efforts, but he is hoping it will be resolved soon.
“We are managing a coordinated response along with the Province of BC, the Snuneymux First Nation and the shipping agent Pacific Basin in joint decision-making,” he says. “This way we can arrive at what we are hoping will be a timely decision-making process.”
Walker says the cleanup is extensive in-order to preserve marine life and protect the shoreline.
“Containment around the vessel was immediately done to ensure no additional product would be released in the water around the vessel,” he says. “We’ve placed booms in the water to prevent product that would escape from making its way into the harbour.”
Walker says they are considering the aspects shorelines could be impacted but they are unsure if this will be the case considering the amount of spill which occurred.
“We are unsure at this time if shorelines will be impacted,” he says. “Crews on the water and on the beach are working to determine if there will be impacts to the shoreline.”
The Coast Guard has not indicated how much fuel was discharged into the Harbour at this time but assures the water is safe and they are in control of the situation.
