After previous work to remove oil, an Emergency Coordination Centre has been formed to respond to a new oil leak from the MG Zalinski.
In 1946 a United States Army transport ship, the MG Zalinski ran aground and sunk on its way to Alaska in the Grenville Channel south of Prince Rupert near Hartley Bay. Until locals from the Gitga’at and Gitxaala nations started to report seeing oil in the water outside Hartley Bay in the early 2000s, no one knew that the ship was there.
After discovering the ship, work was started over a 3 month period in 2013 to remove the oil from the ship. Valves were placed along the hull where they could run hot water through the pipes in order to thin the oil enough for it to drain easily. In the first round of drainage, 44,000 litres of oil was removed as well as 319,000 litres of oily water. In 2015 another 3,300 litres of oil was removed, and in 2018 they only had to drain 300 litres.
Superintendent for environmental response in the western region of the Canadian Coast Guard Jeff Brady says that because the ship is continuing to deteriorate, this time the oil could be leaking out of the rivets in the hull. To respond to the newest leak, a team has been put together of the Coast Guard, the Gitga’at and Gitxaala nations, and Environment Canada. The team will work together to come up with a solution to stop the leak though so far no concrete plans have been made.
Brady says that going back to 2013 the Gitga’at and Gitxaala have been consulted on their knowledge of the ocean pathways to figure out where the oil would end up and what sort of effect it would have on the natural surroundings.
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