Clean-up underway after 1,000 litres of bio diesel spills at BC fish farm
Posted March 5, 2017 2:53 pm.
Last Updated March 5, 2017 6:46 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
PORT HARDY (NEWS 1130) – Coast guard officials say crews are working to clean up a fuel spill at a fish farm off Vancouver Island’s north coast.
The federal fisheries department says the coast guard received a report early Sunday morning about a spill from a fuel tank at an Atlantic salmon aquaculture site in Echo Bay, about 70 kilometres east of Port Hardy.
The statement says an estimated 900 to 1,000 litres of bio diesel overflowed into the water when a fuel pump was left on overnight.
The company that owns the site, Cermaq Canada, issued a statement that said its records show up to 1,500 litres was spilled.
Staff at the fish farm put out absorbent pads to soak up the fuel, and most of the spill is contained in the fish pens, but Cermaq says the fish are showing “normal behaviour.”
Bob Chamberlin is the elected chief of Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis, a nearby First Nation, and says the area is critical for clam digging, which is a major food source for his community.
“When you look at it, you say ‘Good Golly.’ It’s going to have an impact on our traditional food source. It’s going to have a significant impact on our environment.”
He says his community has long been opposed to fish farms in the area because they are worried about what impact the sites will have on the environment.
“Either through a lack of training or lack of diligence, to have an accident on the farm such as this, it’s utterly unacceptable.”
The coast guard, officials from the ministry of environment, and a marine clean-up company are responding to the spill.
