Stalling On Robson Bight Cleanup
Threatens Orcas

Monday, April 7, 2008
TELEGRAPH COVE, BRITISH COLUMBIA - When a barge dangerously laden with logging equipment, including a tanker truck of diesel fuel, spilled its load in the heart of the world's best known orca habitat -- the Robson Bight (Michael Bigg) Ecological Reserve -- last Aug. 20, whale lovers were outraged, environmentalists dismayed, the public engaged, and even the oil industry took note.

Canada's initial response, via its coast guard, was to discount the possibility of serious impacts by claiming all the oil and fuel had been released and dispersed.

Eventually, after being pressured by non-governmental organizations that raised the funds needed to conduct an underwater investigation, the governments of British Columbia and Canada commissioned an underwater inspection of the spill site. This was completed in early December.

Months later, despite video evidence (livingoceans.org) that the tanker truck is intact and probably still full of toxic diesel fuel, we are still waiting for an announcement that the next obvious step -- cleanup -- will be undertaken before the orcas return in early summer.

Organizing and conducting the cleanup will take time, once the decision is made, and time is passing quickly. Meanwhile, a ticking toxic time bomb is lying on the ocean floor 350 metres below Robson Bight.

The absence of official reaction to the evidence from the underwater inspection is puzzling and disturbing. Apparently, Environment Minister Barry Penner has been told the tanker could stay intact for 18 months and is waiting for a detailed corrosion analysis before deciding.

This makes no sense at all. If it is agreed that the tanker truck will have to be removed sometime, why take the risk of waiting? The "experts" were wrong before; why should we believe them this time? Removing the tanker truck now, before the orcas return, is the only means of ensuring that a potential disaster is averted.

Once again it is clear that governments are dragging their feet.

That simply isn't good enough. The orcas will return soon, probably in June and no later than July. If the fuel tanker isn't removed by the time the orcas arrive, it will be considered too risky to do the job until the orcas leave again in the fall or early winter.

Winter will be impossible because the weather is too bad. This means the cleanup could be pushed back to next spring. Even the 18-month guess suggests this could be too late.

Meanwhile, the diesel might remain inside the tanker, or it might not. If it is released when orcas are present, the result could be catastrophic. Leaving it lying at the bottom with orcas swimming above is foolhardy and negligent.

For the orcas' sake, and to ensure the ecological integrity of Robson Bight, the job must be done now. Waiting any longer is not an option.

B.C.'s government is wearing green clothes these days. The extraordinary public interest in orcas at once presents Penner with challenge and opportunity. His decision on Robson Bight will tell us much about whether that friendly outfit is merely camouflage.

Source: The Victoria Times Colonist