Close X
Thursday, December 12, 2024
ADVT 
National

Oil removal work begins on 'fragile' Second World War-era wreck in coastal B.C.

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 23 Oct, 2024 04:03 PM
  • Oil removal work begins on 'fragile' Second World War-era wreck in coastal B.C.

An oil salvage operation is underway on the fragile wreckage of a U.S. army transport ship that sank almost 80 years ago off coastal British Columbia in a race to head off an eruption of thousands of litres of oil that a coast guard official says is "near imminent." 

The Canadian Coast Guard said the 77-metre-long Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski has been burping up "slow but consistent drops of oil" since the fall of 2022 at the shipwreck site in Grenville Channel, part of the Inside Passage off northern B.C. 

Jeff Brady, superintendent of marine environmental hazard response in the west for the coast guard, said the discovery comes after 44,000 litres of heavy fuel oil and 319,000 litres of oily water was successfully extracted from the sunken ship in 2013. 

An assessment done by the coast guard last year suggests about 27,000 litres of oil remains within the ship, which sits on a rocky shelf about 40 meters below the surface. 

Brady said the oil removal work is urgent. 

“We're really well aware of that the marine mammals in the area, aquaculture, all the migratory birds.

“And what we do know about the wreck is that it's in a deteriorated state, and it's near imminent that we're going to have a more significant release from it, and that's why we're aggressively launching this operation,” said Brady. 

Coast guard crews began diving down to the site — about 1,100 kilometres north of Vancouver along the coast — for more than a week to do safety checks and prepare it for oil removal work, he said. 

Built in 1919 by the American Ship Building Co., the Zalinski was initially used as a cargo ship, and in 1941, it was taken over by the U.S. Department of War to an army transport vessel. 

The Zalinski was on its way from Seattle to Whittier, Alaska, in 1946, loaded with army supplies and about 700 tonnes of fuel, when it crashed into rock near Pitt Island. 

It sank in just 20 minutes, although the 48 crew members aboard were rescued by a nearby tug and a cargo ship.

Since then, Brady said the wreck has been "very slowly" spilling oil.

The sunken ship was mostly forgotten until around 2005, when oil was reported in the channel, he said. 

“And during that dive, to our surprise, we found a large Second World War wreck and that really started this progress,” said Brady.

The federal government awarded a $4.9 million contract to U.S.-based company Resolve Marine in October to use an extraction method called "hot tapping" to remove the fuel, the coast guard said in a statement. 

Brady said a crew has cut a 10-centimetre hole in the steel plate of the wreckage without spilling any of the oil inside. 

“So, imagine you had an aboveground swimming pool, and on the side of that swimming pool you wanted to put a hole through that, but you didn't want to spill any water, and so that's a challenging thing to do,” said Brady. 

Brady said the oil-removal operation, which will likely last into early November, is being done in collaboration with the nearby Gitga’at and Gitxaala First Nations and wildlife advisers. 

Because the Zalinski sank before polluter-pay rules were established, the federal government is paying the $4.9-million cost of the operation. 

The coast guard said in a statement that given the "high risk" to the marine ecosystem, and areas of “culture sensitivity” in Grenville Channel and other areas of the Inside Passage, the Government of Canada is paying for the removal of bulk oil. 

The coast guard said the contractor will attempt to remove as much of the remaining oil as possible.

Once the operation is finished, Brady said the wreck will be left on the channel floor as it has "deteriorated significantly" with its bones collapsing, said Brady. 

"We can't remove such a sensitive, fragile hull in one piece. And if we did decide to do that, we'd still know that there are little pockets of trace oil throughout the hull and it may not be best for the environment," said Brady. 

"It might be a net environmental benefit to just leave the hull and let it deteriorate in place," he added. 

MORE National ARTICLES

Robbery at a BC liquor store

Robbery at a BC liquor store
Prince George R-C-M-P say a man has been taken into custody after robbing a liquor store.  R-C-M-P say officers received two reports about a man who seemed to be carrying a firearm showed up on Weisbrod Road close to the Hart Highway and the second report came in suggesting the man robbed a nearby liquor store. 

Robbery at a BC liquor store

B.C. court declares mistrial in shooting deaths of teenager bystander and gangster

B.C. court declares mistrial in shooting deaths of teenager bystander and gangster
A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has declared a mistrial in the case of Kane Carter, who was accused of murdering a gang member and an innocent teenager who was passing by in his parents' vehicle. The jury came back Tuesday saying it was deadlocked after five days of deliberations in Carter's trial.

B.C. court declares mistrial in shooting deaths of teenager bystander and gangster

Police watchdog recommends charges against Vancouver police officer in fatal shooting

Police watchdog recommends charges against Vancouver police officer in fatal shooting
B.C.'s police watchdog says an officer from the Vancouver Police Department might face charges in a shooting that killed a man two years ago.  A statement from the Independent Investigations Office says officers from the Vancouver Police Department responded to a call from the Patricia Hotel on May 5, 2022.

Police watchdog recommends charges against Vancouver police officer in fatal shooting

Elderly woman assaulted in Cobble Hill

Elderly woman assaulted in Cobble Hill
R-C-M-P are looking for more information as they investigate the sexual assault of an elderly woman that happened in Cobble Hill in July. Mounties say an unknown man entered the elderly women's home in the area of Carlton Drive and assaulted her.

Elderly woman assaulted in Cobble Hill

Witnesses sought in collision

Witnesses sought in collision
Vancouver Police are looking for witnesses following a collision between a cyclist and pedestrian on the afternoon of September 1st. Officers say a 62-year-old was riding a rental bike on Comox Street between Broughton and Nicola just before 1 p.m., when the cyclist collided with a driver who was exiting her parked car. 

Witnesses sought in collision

B.C. collaborates with federal government to fight against cyberattacks

B.C. collaborates with federal government to fight against cyberattacks
The British Columbia government says it’s collaborating with the federal government to protect its information systems from cyber attacks. The Ministry of Citizens' Services says in a statement that the new agreement provides the province with access to cyber defence services, which will improve its ability to defend, detect, and respond to cyber threats.

B.C. collaborates with federal government to fight against cyberattacks