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Sunken Barge Salvage Delayed Until Spring |
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Saturday, October 25, 2008 It was decided to delay any attempt to salvage the potentially hazardous equipment because of weather and whales, said Environment Ministry spokesman Kate Thompson. "Our window was October and all our science tells us we would be in a better position in the spring," she said. Robson Bight ecological reserve is an environmentally sensitive area where northern resident killer whales rub themselves on the pebbly beaches. In August last year a barge, loaded with machinery belonging to Ted LeRoy Trucking of Chemainus, accidentally tipped 11 pieces of equipment into 350 metres of water, including a fuel truck containing 10,000 litres of diesel oil and a cube truck laden with barrels of hydraulic oil. Initially, the federal government said the equipment would have imploded, but a video taken in February after a public outcry showed it to be intact. Last month, the province awarded the recovery contract to Mammoet Salvage B.V. and Global Diving and Salvage of Seattle. The agreement was for the attempt to be made in either fall or spring as the corrosion analysis concluded it would take at least two and a half years from the date of the sinking for the fuel tank to corrode through, Thompson said. "In the spring we expect better weather than at this time of year," she said. The whales are usually still in the area at this time of year, but this month, apparently because of lack of salmon, their appearances have been sparse, said Paul Spong of research facility OrcaLab. It will be easier to conduct the salvage operation in the spring, but the question on everyone's mind will be whether the corrosion study is accurate, Spong said. "We are very familiar with experts that have been wrong," he said. "Everyone is going to have to hold their breath and hope that nothing goes wrong." Source: The Victoria Times Colonist |
© The Orca Zone 2008