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British Columbia/Canada

Coastline, fisheries
pay price of delay
In oil spill cleanup

By MAUREEN SAGER
Thursday, Jan. 5, 3 p.m., Chesterman’s
Beach near Tofino: the tide is going out and
left behind in wave-like lines are flattened

| mounds of amber-brown shining in the sun.

Circles and teardrop shapes, irregular blobs
and smears, a muted-rainbow aura sur-
rounding each. Dime-size to foot-long,
Sticky to the touch, it looks a bit like choco-
late but it isn’t. It is oil — congealed
Bunker-C.

The oil came from a long way away. On
Thursday night, Dec. 22, a tug, the Ocean
Services and the barge it was towing, the
Nestucca, owned by Sause Bros. Towing
Inc. of Coos Bay, Ore., were travelling
along the stormy Washington coast carry-
ing nearly ten million litres of Bunker-C, a
partly-refined oil used to fuel heating plants.
They had picked up the oil at the British
Petroleum Refinery in Ferndale, Wash., 20
km south of the border, and were to make a
delivery at Grays Harbor, Wash., before

- going on to Portland, Ore.

But an accident occurred about 3/2 km
off Grays Harbour when the tow line either
broke, or was being adjusted. While the

crew was attempting to get a man or
another line aboard the barge, the towboat,
driven by high winds and heavy seas, struck,
gashed and ripped open one of the oil-filled
compartments on the barge.

On Friday, the barge, by now trailing an
oil slick that grew to 50 km long and about
30 metres wide, was towed to the mouth of
‘the Columbia River where it bobbed 40 km
offshore that night waiting for authorities to
assess how best to repair it.

The barge was single-hulled and the tow-
boat was not equipped with a second or
emergency tow line. Nor was it carrying
buoyed beacons or markers which could
have indicated the position of the spilled oil.

First estimates of the lost oil were low.
“About 165,000 litres,” said Washington
State officials on Dec. 24, although it was
known the gashed tank held about 950,000
litres. The U.S. Coast Guard took no pre-
cautionary measures to track the oil by use
of available radio buoys, sub-surface elec-
tronic markers, infra-red equipment or
Satellite technology, presumably because
the spill was considered “small.”

It turned out that at least 875,000 litres
poured out of the damaged compartment.
No effort was made to prevent the oil from
Spreading because existing containment
€quipment is of no use under stormy condi-
tions. In three-metre seas, the material slops
Over the top.

The Canadian Coast Guard is the lead
government agency in an emergency situa-
tion when oil leaks from a ship. Western
Region Director Glen Stewart said the U.S.
Coast Guard notified its Canadian coun-
terpart about the spill but when the U.S.
tracking organization lost sight of the slick,
they presumed it had dispersed. Stewart

- Said the Davis Current, which normally

flows northwest, was expected to carry the
oil out to sea on waves driven by offshore
winds. Instead, unusually heavy onshore
Winds not expected during January and
February, shifted the direction of the slick.
On Dec. 31, the U.S. Coast Guard
Warned that the oil was hitting northern
Washington beaches and the lighthouse
keeper at Carmanah Point on Vancouver
Island reported oil there. A Canadian Coast
Guard helicopter flew in on Jan. 1 but con-
Sidered the amount of oil “inconsequential”
and did not take this signal as a warning.
Helicopter monitoring continued on Jan.
2 but by this time, a lot of the oil had

achieved neutral buoyancy and was floating

beneath the surface of the water. Infra-red
tracking equipment was not used until Jan.

By Jan. 3, large amounts of oil began
appearing on Long Beach and the Coast
Guard realized the situation might be
“serious,” yet they took no action to organ-
ize clean-up operation. “We had to assess
the situation,’ Stewart said later. “You
must know what type of material you’re
dealing with, what equipment will be
needed. You have to analyze your prob-
lem.”

On Jan. 4, samples of oil were sent by
helicopter to Washington state for testing
by officials to confirm its origin. The next
day, Sause Bros. said it would pay for clean-
up costs and hired two Vancouver-based
firms who began hiring local people on Jan.
6.

That was three days after the oil pollution
was known to be serious. Local residents
had been out on the beaches from the day
oil started coming in and had set up a volun-
teer monitoring and co-ordination centre in
the Common Loaf Bakery and the Friends
of Clayoquot Sound office in Tofino.

They organized themselves to begin the
seemingly endless work of monitoring and

GThe Coast Guard delayed
taking action, did not inform or
consult with local residents,
city councils, the regional dis-
trict or the Nuu-chah-nulth
chiefs and tribal council or
local band councils. 9

cleaning. The phones rang constantly as
local people — fishermen, pilots, boat
operators, residents of isolated Indian
villages — set out to find and gather oil-
soaked sand, seaweed and debris.

The Tofino Parks Branch was the only
government agency that actively supported
the volunteers, supplying them with trans-
portation, tools and garbage bags. When
volunteers called to ask the Parks Branch
what to do, they were told: “Phone the
bakery.”

But heavy equipment was needed: boats,
helicopters and back-hoes. And people,
more people. For with oil spill clean-ups,
there exists a “window of opportunity”
when the first loads of oil the tide throw on
the beach are larger and can be cleaned up
more easily before being swept out to sea,
where they are broken up into smaller and
smaller bits, left to sink to the bottom and
be buried in the sand.

The Coast Guard delayed taking action
and did not inform or consult with local
residents, city councils, the regional district
or the Nuu-chah-nulth chiefs and tribal
council or local band councils. Operating
on the principle “polluter pays,” the Coast
Guard waited for confirmation of the
source of the oil and waited for contractors
to be hired to do the work.

But it is the environment and local resi-
dents that pay as wildlife perishes, fish and
shellfish are poisoned and all the resources
of the ocean are contaminated by teardrops
of oil.

Maureen Sager is an environmental acti-
vist living in Port Alberni. She was a volunteer
in the oil spill cleanup.

Quebec loses sale,
Tritium pushed

Environmentalist opposition has led
the Main Public Utilities Commission to
reject a $4-billion contract with Quebec
Hydro to purchase electric power.

Objections were raised over the con-
struction of a 225-kilometre power line,
which would have cut into wilderness
areas in the northern section of the state.

Quebec Premier Robert Bourassa
blamed the groups for the two-to-one
vote by the Commission to reject the
Quebec option. Instead, the Commission
will examine purchasing surplus capacity
from other power companies in the U.S.
and emphasize conservation to reduce
energy demands. :

Meanwhile, Ontario Hydro has step-
ped up the pressure on the Ontario
cabinet to give the green light to sell
tritium, a by-product of nuclear energy
production, to the U.S. Tritium prices
have soared since the U.S. last produc-
tion facility, the Savannah River plant,
was forced to shut down in August
because of serious safety concerns.

Peace and environmental groups have
been lobbying against the sale, fearing
Canadian tritium will find its way into
the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

Tritium is a vital component in keep-
ing nuclear warheads operational. With-
out fresh supplies of tritium, the
Pentagon would be forced to extract tri-
tium from some warheads to keep a min-
imum number of them operative.

Although the Peterson government
has given its assurances that safeguards
are in place to prevent Canadian exports
of tritium from being used for military
purposes, arms experts concur that, like
Canadian uranium exports, there is no
means to verify a separation between
military and civilian use.

The Nuclear Awareness Project, the
group which has been leading the fight
against tritium production and exports
by Hydro, is urging peace supporters to
step up the pressure on the premier’s
office to ban tritium sales.-

Seniors protest

homemakers cuts

Over 500 home-care givers rallied on
the steps of Queen’s Park Jan. 9 to
demand more funding for in-home care
for seniors and the disabled.

The campaign, spearheaded by the
Ontario Association of Visiting Home-
makers, demanded the government
cover the $1.8-million deficit of the Red
Cross homemakers program and six
other non-profit services and to provide
extra funding to boost care givers wages.

There is a critical shortage of home-
care workers, which the association said
is directly linked to poor wages and
working conditions. Wages average $5 to
$6.50 an hour. The Association is asking
for $7 plus overtime.

Social Services minister John Sweeney
announced government funding to cover
the deficit in the Legislature Jan. 6.

The Ontario Coalition of Senior Citi-
zens, who came out in support of the
event, praised the government’s actions
as “an important first step.”

In a statement distributed at the rally,
it argued homemakers services are a
more humane means of caring for the
elderly and disabled and more cost effec-
tive.

“Homemakers are on the front line on
Ontario’s health care system,” the state-
ment says. “‘Home support services save
government money by saving on funding
for long term institutional care.

“Seniors and the disabled have made
it clear they want to live at home ... and
not face the indignity of life in nursing
homes and the chronic care wards of
hospitals.” 4

The rally called for equal pay for work
of equal value for homemakers, the
majority of whom are immigrant
women. It also demanded higher wages
and the right to organize.

Runners charge
racism at games

Canadian sprinter Courtney Brown
says it was the racism displayed by
members of the Canadian team which.
prompted him to leave Seoul during the
Olympic games last fall.

Brown was suspended last week by the
Canadian Track and Field Association
from competing in Canadian meets for
six months and internationally for one
year. Teammate Mark McKoy faces a
year’s suspension from domestic compe-
tition and two years internationally, for
his refusal to compete in the men’s relay.

The decisions effectively end the two
men’s athletic careers.

The runner said the remarks arose fol-
lowing the announcement that illegal ste-
roids showed up in the urine sample of
runner Ben Johnson. Johnson, McKoy
and Brown are all Jamaican-born,

Brown says he had explained to Can-
adian coaches and the team manager
that he was refusing to run on principle
after teammates made racist statements
and hung derogatory signs about John-
son from the village dormitory.

The majority of Canada’s track-and-
field team is Jamaican-born. The other
Canadian teams are largely white.

The Association announced the sus-
pensions at a press conference Jan. 8
before contacting the athletes concerned.

Council hosting
environment meet

Want your organization to be part of
the process that ends wasteful, environ-
mentally damaging industrial practices
and the encroachment on public lands in
B.C.? If so, the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal
Council has the conference for you.

It is sponsoring the conference,
“Creating an alternative, sustainable
vision for the future of British Colum-
bia,” on behalf of the coalition of labour,
community, Native and environmental
groups formed last February around the
Strathcona Park issue.

The conference takes place at Tin-wis
Guest House in Tofino — just north of
Long Beach on Vancouver Island —
Feb. 3-5. The council asks that organiza-
tions consider sending delegates who are
interested, but not necessarily “con-
verted,” and wants to see participation
by groups outside the boundaries of the
island and the Lower Mainland.

Registration should be sent to the
Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council, P.O.
Box 1383, Port Alberni, B.C., V9Y 7M2,
attention Bill Green. Phone 724-0463,
Fax 723-0463.

—

Pacific Tribune, January 23, 1989 « 3