B.C. Ferries has wrapped up its oil cleanup efforts at the Langdale and Horseshoe Bay ferry terminals, following last Friday's (June 4) oil leak from the Queen of Coquitlam. But said they are continuing to monitor the situation.
"We did have staff out [at Langdale Terminal] on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with absorbent pads and their concern was for the beaches," said Deborah Marshall, B.C. Ferries' director of media relations. "They're still monitoring it, but as far as recoverable [oil deposits], as far as the beach deposits, it was certainly dwindling."
Friday morning, June 4, B.C. Ferries staff discovered a crack in the cooler in the gearbox of the Queen of Coquitlam, which caused it to leak oil from Langdale to Horseshoe Bay on its 10:20 a.m. sailing. The cooler problem, Marshall said, left the ship out of service until that evening, caused cancelled sailings and extensive delays, and required the Queen of Cowichan to come in from Departure Bay to make an "extra unscheduled" 2:30 p.m. sailing from Horseshoe Bay before returning to Vancouver Island later that night.
Marshall said the Queen of Coquitlam was running again by Friday evening with a temporary repair to the cooler, and that the full repair would be completed later this week.
In terms of clean up efforts, Marshall said that on the Horseshoe Bay side, B.C. Ferries staff placed a boom and absorbent pads around the Queen of Coquitlam during repairs. On the Langdale side, cleanup efforts continued throughout last weekend.
She said that while oil would have leaked across Howe Sound during the Friday morning crossing, B.C. Ferries' containment and cleanup efforts were limited to the terminals, as oil is difficult to collect on the open ocean. She also noted, the absorbent pads do not work on a light sheen of oil, which may still be at the terminals, and which she termed 'unrecoverable.' That sheen, she said, will either dissipate through wave and wind action, or it will evaporate.
"Anytime anything goes into the environment, obviously we're concerned about it and we report to all the authorities that we need to," she said, noting that terminals are equipped with cleanup equipment such as absorbent pads, and B.C. Ferries provides training drills for situations such as this one.
She encouraged anybody who notices further oil problems at Langdale to report them to terminal staff.
As to possible ferry delays if passengers surge in for the Gibsons Landing Jazz Festival this weekend, Marshall said B.C. Ferries will operate as it usually does on "shoulder season" weekends before the summer schedule change.
"We don't have any extra sailings scheduled, but we would be operating on our highest license so we can carry a maximum passenger count [of 1,494 rather than 1,265] on the busiest times which would be Friday afternoon leaving Horseshoe Bay and then Sunday afternoon leaving Langdale," she said.
