Friday, February 22, 2013

Waterfront vandalism spurs Environmental Response

The Port of Prince Rupert is in the midst of a remediation effort on the Prince Rupert waterfront, after vandals compromised some decommissioned electrical transformers, resulting in a fluid leak.

The efforts to address the environmental clean up began on Thursday, as Port Authority staff became aware of the situation and took the lead in the process of addressing the fluid leak.

A quantity of transformer oil entered the immediate vicinity of the transformers, located northeast of the Fairview Container Terminal, in the vicinity of the old McMillan Fisheries plant acquired by the Port last year.

Western Canada Marine Response Corporation is on the site to contain the waterborne contamination, while Quantum Murray, a hazardous materials firm from Richmond, is handling the land side portion of the clean up effort.

The vandalism incident is currently under investigation by the RCMP and is considered to have been a criminal act.

The full review of the incident and the response to it can be found on the Prince Rupert Port Authority website.

Update: February 24

The Prince Rupert Port Authority issued an update on the situation on Sunday morning, outlining the work done to control the fluid leak, a process that was completed early Saturday evening.

The encapsulation process on the fluid leak insulates the source of the contamination from coming in contact with rainwater, and slows or stops the leeching process into the environment.

The use of absorbent pads, water skimmers and floating booms has been part of that process.

The full account of the steps taken to address the situation can be found on the Port Authority website.

Update 2: February 27

The Prince Rupert Port Authority outlined the wrap up of the incident near Fairview Terminals with this press release, issued on Wednesday morning. Addressing local concerns over possible PCB contamination and reviewing the steps taken since first notified of the situation on the Prince Rupert waterfront. The remediation efforts on the site will continue for the next number of weeks ahead.

Items of note from the media on the topic:

February 27-- CFTK-- Oil Spill Clean up (video)
February 27-- CFTK-- Emergency Response for Transformer Vandalism Leak Wraps Up
February 27-- CFNR-- Port wraps up emergency response to oil leak
February 27-- Northern View-- Emergency Response for Transformer Vandalism Leak Wraps Up
February 27-- Northern View-- Prince Rupert Port Authority confirms less than 1,500 litres of oil leaked, no PCB's found
Feb 25-- CBC Daybreak North-- Hazardous materials spill in Prince Rupert Harbour (audio)
Feb 25-- CFTK-- Vandals Create Oil Spill on Prince Rupert Waterfront
Feb 25-- CFTK-- Oil Leak Vandalism (video)
Feb 23-- Northern View-- Oil leak into Prince Rupert harbour now contained

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