Foss 153 Diesel Spill Dinan Bay Haida Gwaii - April 24, 2020

Taan Forest Announcements
Written By Ileah Mattice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 24, 2020, 15:00 PST

UNIFIED COMMAND JOINT ADVISORY:
FOSS 153 DIESEL SPILL DIINAN KAHLII DINAN BAY HAIDA GWAII

Today clean-up efforts continue in relation to the diesel spill in Diinan Kahlii Dinan Bay:

  • Containment and recovery efforts continue, along with booms deployed to protect sensitive areas.

  • Additional booms, sorbent materials, and PPE arrived this morning from Coast Guard and were deployed as needed.

  • Ongoing sampling of water, soil and marine life to assess impacts and target clean-up efforts, is underway, with supervision by Biologists.

  • At 12:30 PDT, April 24th, approximately 150.4 litres of non-recoverable sheen was observed by a National Aerial Surveillance Program (NASP) flight.

A virtual Unified Command (UC) continues to oversee the incident. UC includes representatives from HaiCo (Taan Forest), the Council of the Haida Nation, Coast Guard, and BC Ministry of Environment. Unified Command is also supported by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, and Environment and Climate Change Canada. Due to Coronavirus (COVID19), on-island resources are being utilized on the ground and all meetings are occurring via teleconference.

  • It is estimated that two-thirds of the spill has dissipated and evaporated.

  • On Thursday morning booms and sorbent pads were deployed as soon as the spill was discovered.

  • Local monitoring of the spill location continues, as well as daily NASP flights.

  • Current modeling shows that the full plume is expected to last until approximately April 26, 2020.

All agencies are working closely with Taan Forest to ensure that the spill is addressed as quickly as possible and UC continues to work diligently to minimize possible impacts. Resources are being deployed to monitor and respond to the incident, including great efforts to minimize cultural and environmental impacts. For the protection of public health, environment, and areas of cultural importance, members of the public are asked to avoid the area while work continues.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

  • Karen Dean (250) 626-9722

  • Sonia Rice (250) 626-9049

Ileah Mattice
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Foss 153 Diesel Spill Dinan Bay Haida Gwaii - April 25, 2020
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