Whales, Oil and Politics

[Wilber]

No such thing has happened.

Actually it did. The Kits station had a conventional vessel equipped to deal with spills. It was stripped of parts and sold after the station was closed. The Coast guard only had a Zodiac available to respond. All its other resources are based at Sea Island and have to come all the way around Point Grey in order to get to the harbour. On top of that, its hovercraft can't operate in oil spills.

This is the world class system we have for the country's largest port.

[Smallc]

Actually it did. The Kits station had a conventional vessel equipped to deal with spills.

Not according to the CCG.

[Wilber]

Not according to the CCG.

That do you expect them to say? Why did it take them six hours to get any equipment there? And no, hovercraft can't operate in spills for reasons that should be obvious to anyone who knows how they work.

[Smallc]

That do you expect them to say? Why did it take them six hours to get any equipment there? And no, hovercraft can't operate in spills for reasons that should be obvious to anyone who knows how they work.

The vessel at Kits was a small inshore SAR boat with no cargo space. It would have been 30 years old this year. Any equipment for spill cleanup would have been from private companies in Vancouver, or if needed, larger, better equipped CCG vessels from Patricia Bay or Victoria.

Edited April 11, 2015 by Smallc

[Wilber]

The vessel at Kits was a small inshore SAR boat with no cargo space. It would have been 30 years old this year. Any equipment for spill cleanup would have been private companies in Vancouver, or if needed, larger, better equipped CCG vessels from Victoria or Patricia Bay.

We don't need an offshore boat or one with cargo capacity, just one that can use skimmers and deploy booms. Cleanup is already contracted out. Worked great, didn't it.

Oh great, the largest port in the country has to wait for resources from Victoria or Pat Bay because it has none of its own. It takes the ferry over an hour and a half to get from Swartz Bay to Tswassen and that is only about half way to the inner harbour. Add at least another hour to come from Victoria. The feds shot themselves in the foot big time in order to save chump change. They have made selling the expanded pipelines ten times harder by doing so.

[Derek 2.0]

Oh great, the largest port in the country has to wait for resources from Victoria or Pat Bay because it has none of its own. It takes the ferry over an hour and a half to get from Swartz Bay to Tswassen and that is only about half way to the inner harbour. Add at least another hour to come from Victoria. The feds shot themselves in the foot big time in order to save chump change. They have made selling the expanded pipelines ten times harder by doing so.

No, the skimmers are moored near the Chevron refinery in Burnaby and Robert's Bank/Delta Port.......

[Smallc]

We don't need an offshore boat or one with cargo capacity, just one that can use skimmers and deploy booms. Cleanup is already contracted out. Worked great, didn't it.

80% containment in less than 36 hours is apparently very good, yes.

[Derek 2.0]

Actually it did. The Kits station had a conventional vessel equipped to deal with spills. It was stripped of parts and sold after the station was closed. The Coast guard only had a Zodiac available to respond. All its other resources are based at Sea Island and have to come all the way around Point Grey in order to get to the harbour. On top of that, its hovercraft can't operate in oil spills.

This is the world class system we have for the country's largest port.

An added twenty minute response from Sea Island played little in the crapping of the bed here.......more so the massive failure in communication between multiple layers of Government...

[Derek 2.0]

That do you expect them to say? Why did it take them six hours to get any equipment there? And no, hovercraft can't operate in spills for reasons that should be obvious to anyone who knows how they work.

Actually, you're wrong......the CCG's Hovercraft (from Sea Island), pioneered the use of hovercraft for oil spill response nearly 30 years ago.......

With that said, the CCG's hovercraft aren't the primary responders.

[Wilber]

Actually, you're wrong......the CCG's Hovercraft (from Sea Island), pioneered the use of hovercraft for oil spill response nearly 30 years ago.......

With that said, the CCG's hovercraft aren't the primary responders.

That report only concerned using hovercraft to disperse a spill, not contain it or remove the oil. The last thing you want to do with a spill in an enclosed area like a harbour is disperse it. Hovercraft are the primary responders at Sea Island. Edited April 11, 2015 by Wilber

[Wilber]

An added twenty minute response from Sea Island played little in the crapping of the bed here.......more so the massive failure in communication between multiple layers of Government...

Wouldn't have mattered anyway. They have nothing to respond with.

[Wilber]

80% containment in less than 36 hours is apparently very good, yes.

This was a very small spill. If it were a large one, 80% in 36 hours wouldn't be anywhere near good enough.

[Derek 2.0]

That report only concerned using hovercraft to disperse a spill, not contain it or remove the oil. The last thing you want to do with a spill in an enclosed area like a harbour is disperse it. Hovercraft are the primary responders at Sea Island.

No, to disperse chemicals/solvents to clean up the oil spill......clearly a hovercraft has advantages over a conventional boat in both speed and operation in shallow depths/beaches/marshes etc......And I know they're the primary responders at Sea Island.....I said as much, with oil spills, around the lower mainland being namely the purview of private companies...

[On Guard for Thee]

One of the guys on the sailboat who originally discovered this spill was interviewed this afternoon. The original bauble was that they kept getting passed from one authority to the the other and then another. Nobody doing anything. When it happens right off English Bay beach and it takes the CG 6 hours to get booms going, Kinder Morgan must be thinking so much for that project.

[Wilber]

No, to disperse chemicals/solvents to clean up the oil spill......clearly a hovercraft has advantages over a conventional boat in both speed and operation in shallow depths/beaches/marshes etc......And I know they're the primary responders at Sea Island.....I said as much, with oil spills, around the lower mainland being namely the purview of private companies...

When you use dispersants you are relying on currents and tides to remove the oil, you aren't cleaning it up.

[On Guard for Thee]

When you use dispersants you are relying on currents and tides to remove the oil, you aren't cleaning it up.

And dispersants only send the crude to the bottom where it kills or adversely affects everything there. Just look at the results of the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

[Derek 2.0]

When you use dispersants you are relying on currents and tides to remove the oil, you aren't cleaning it up.

I know.......that's how offshore oil spills are namely cleaned up......from Exxon to Deepwater Horizon.

[On Guard for Thee]

I know.......that's how offshore oil spills are namely cleaned up......from Exxon to Deepwater Horizon.

Only cosmetics.

[Derek 2.0]

And dispersants only send the crude to the bottom where it kills or adversely affects everything there. Just look at the results of the BP spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

No dispersants aide in the biodegradation of the oil........the alternative of course is to do next to nothing.

Do you wash yourself with soap? If so, the soap you use is more toxic than dispersant agents used in offshore spills.

[Wilber]

I know.......that's how offshore oil spills are namely cleaned up......from Exxon to Deepwater Horizon.

Won't do much for place like Vancouver harbour.

[Derek 2.0]

Only cosmetics.

No, they aide the environment in diluting the oil.

[Derek 2.0]

Won't do much for place like Vancouver harbour.

It did for (the far worse) Prince William Sound.......as mentioned, ~80% of the spill is already contained/cleaned-up.....perspective please.

[On Guard for Thee]

No, they aide the environment in diluting the oil.

As I stated, it only dilutes it to send it to the bottom so the surface sheen disappears and a flyover will attempt to show the 6 oclock mews that everything is OK. Booming it and extracting it is the only real way to protect the environment. Flying over and spraying more chemical is only cover up.

[Wilber]

It did for (the far worse) Prince William Sound.......as mentioned, ~80% of the spill is already contained/cleaned-up.....perspective please.

Let's put that 80% in perspective. If we had a spill that was 10% of the Exxon Valdez spill and 36 hours later, 80% of it was contained, that would still leave 220,000 gallons of oil loose in the harbour. Right now we have a cold front blowing through with associated winds. What do you think would be happening to that oil? Prince William Sound is a lot bigger than Vancouver harbour with bigger tides.

[Derek 2.0]

As I stated, it only dilutes it to send it to the bottom so the surface sheen disappears and a flyover will attempt to show the 6 oclock mews that everything is OK. Booming it and extracting it is the only real way to protect the environment. Flying over and spraying more chemical is only cover up.

You can only boom and "extract" it in very calm waters.........