Close X
Friday, October 25, 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

B.C. Interior wildfires show increased activity, triggering evacuation alert

B.C. Interior wildfires show increased activity, triggering evacuation alert
A growing cluster of out-of-control wildfires in the British Columbia Interior has forced officials to place residents in the area under an evacuation alert. The Regional District of Bulkley-Nechako says people in a remote area about 80 kilometres south of Burns Lake, B.C., should be prepared to leave on short notice.

B.C. Interior wildfires show increased activity, triggering evacuation alert

Recent immigrants shut out of strong wage growth as unemployment rises in Canada

Recent immigrants shut out of strong wage growth as unemployment rises in Canada
Canada's unemployment rate continued to trend higher in August — reaching 6.6 per cent — as the job market slowdown hits workers and job seekers unevenly. Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday showed the economy added a modest 22,000 jobs last month, lagging the pace of population growth.

Recent immigrants shut out of strong wage growth as unemployment rises in Canada

Witnesses sought in hit and run

Witnesses sought in hit and run
Police are looking for witnesses after investigators determined that a man found dead off the Coquihalla Highway last month was the victim of a hit-and-run. The B-C Highway Patrol say the man was found just off the roadway near a highway exit in Merritt on August 30th.

Witnesses sought in hit and run

First degree murder charge in Restaurant shooting

First degree murder charge in Restaurant shooting
A man has been convicted of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of another man at a Richmond sushi restaurant.  Jian Jun Zhu was killed in the September 2020 shooting at Manzo restaurant where another victim was also shot but survived.

First degree murder charge in Restaurant shooting

2 men charged with assault in stabbing

2 men charged with assault in stabbing
Police in New Westminster have charged two men with assault in a stabbing described as an "unprovoked attack by a stranger." Police say officers were flagged down on the night of July 30th to assist someone suffering from a stab wound in the abdomen.

2 men charged with assault in stabbing

Homicide in Agassiz

Homicide in Agassiz
Police in Agassiz say a man has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of a woman in a case of possible intimate partner violence. Mounties say police were called to a home at the Seabird Island Band in April and found a 33-year-old woman dead at the scene.

Homicide in Agassiz