By Spencer Sterritt

Nanaimo chosen as main response base for oil spills in the Salish Sea

Nov 20, 2017 | 4:20 PM

NANAIMO — The Harbour City has been chosen as the focus point of operations in case an oil spill taints B.C.’s coast.

Western Canada Marine Response Corporation, an industry-funded organization who clean up oil spills, want to build a hub in Nanaimo to coordinate all oil spill responses on Vancouver Island. 

“In some places on the coast, we have up to 72 hours to respond. So we’re bring that down drastically to a flat six-hour response for the entire southern shipping lane,” spokesperson Michael Lowry told NanaimoNewsNOW. “So you’re looking at a significant reduction in response time and a doubling of capacity we have on hand to respond to a spill.”

The push for a better response time was a safety requirement for the proposed TransMountain pipeline expansion from Edmonton to Burnaby.

Federally approved but mired in court challenges, if the pipeline is built the oil spill response has to be in place six months before.

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Lowry said they’re working on a tight timeline but hope to start construction in early 2018 and be finished by 2019. Several other bases would also be established across the Island.

If built, it’s expected to have 15 vessels in Nanaimo and 35 full-time staff to monitor the waters, maintain their ships and train others.

“If you have a relatively large incident and you’re running 24/7, you’re going to need people to back you up,” Lowry said. “We need to train contractors to use our boats and our equipment.”

The proposed base would be built on Nanaimo Port Authority’s Assembly Wharf on downtown waters at 11 Port Dr.

Authority president and CEO Ewan Moir said while construction isn’t confirmed, in-depth discussions about the base are ongoing and the Request for Proposal process is under way.

“The last thing anyone wants is an oil pollution incident,” he said. “But you’re not just dealing with local ships…you’re looking at foreign ships coming to Canada who maybe don’t have all the oil response equipment and skill sets on board. So having (them) available if there was ever an incident…is a real plus to the idea of looking after oil pollution in the Salish Sea.”

The Nanaimo Port Authority has recently been involved in a dispute between themselves, the City of Nanaimo and Snuneymuxw First Nation over ownership of the land and operating the port.

Moir said both the City and Snuneymuxw were aware of the decision to build an oil spill response base on Port Authority lands.

Anyone curious about oil spills, how they’re handled and what’s proposed for Nanaimo can visit an open house Tuesday, Nov. 21 at the Best Western Dorchester Hotel from 5 to 8 p.m.

— with files from Ian Holmes

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit