City of Vancouver delivers the straight goods on the oil spill in English Bay

    1 of 3 2 of 3

      The City of Vancouver's report on the English Bay oil spill is refreshingly devoid of the propaganda we're seeing dished out by the Canadian Coast Guard.

      Whereas the Coast Guard has made specific claims about the amount of oil spilled, collected, and left in the water, the City of Vancouver has stuck to verifiable facts.

      "It is unknown with any certainty what the amount of the spill was," the city states in the report.

      It notes that small releases of oil continued until April 13. And there is a 40-square-metre area of oil under the M/V Marathassa's hull that still hasn't been recovered.

      The report reveals that the fuel, Bunker C Oil–ISO 380, "can be carried hundreds of miles in the form of scattered tarballs by winds and currents".

      In Alaska after the Selendang spill, these tar balls were found one to three metres below the water.

      The oil has already reached CRAB Beach, New Brighton Beach, Stanley Park, English Bay, and North Shore beaches.

      This map shows where the oil is being distributed.
      City of Vancouver

      Between 20 and 30 birds have been affected, and 15 to 20 of them are at Vanier Park in Kitsilano.

      The city has estimated that the ship owner has a liability cap of $28 million. Another $162 million may be recoverable from the Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund to offset cleanup costs.

      The city report points out that it may require a "lengthy process and potentially litigation" to obtain payments.

      On the weekend, the Canadian Coast Guard released 17 photos designed to reinforce that it had the situation under control.

      Those shots didn't include a single image of any wildlife.

      The City of Vancouver, on the other hand, didn't shy away from including a photo of an oil-soaked duck in its report.

      You won't see an image like this from the Canadian Coast Guard.
      City of Vancouver

      Comments

      1 Comments

      RBM

      Apr 15, 2015 at 5:00pm

      Every imaginable fact right down to how may new Facebook followers they picked up, except why it took them 12 hours to put up warning signs on the beaches. Gregor was asked pointedly why the delay in a CBC interview and just passed the buck.