Up to 5,000 litres of fuel may have spilled into False Creek
Posted June 15, 2015 7:06 am.
Last Updated June 15, 2015 11:24 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – There has been a fuel spill False Creek. The Canadian Coast Guard says up to 5,000 litres have spilled in the waters off Granville Island.
Jeff Brady with the Coast Guard says hundreds of metres of containment booms are up east of the Burrard Street Bridge.
“It’s contained inside the harbour; we’ve had a helicopter overhead to confirm that. We looked outside of False Creek and we didn’t see any oil. We looked down False Creek towards Science World and we couldn’t see any oil.”
Brady was asked why booms were set up around a vessel named “Western Chief” and whether it was the source.
“Spills change all the time… it could have been the wind and the water that moved in this area and it just happened to collect. I can’t confirm that.”
Police closed the seawall between Granville and Burrard Street Bridges earlier today as a precaution; it has been re-opened.
“We’ve been in touch with our partners at Vancouver Coastal Health [and] our hazmat team was here, doing some air monitoring. At this point, it’s really more of an irritant for folks that may have respiratory issues,” says Deputy City Manager Sadhu Johnston.
Park Board biologists do not believe the spill will have any impact on the surrounding beaches.
While the Coast Guard says it has isolated the general area of the spill, the specific location and cause is still being investigated.
