05.20.09
Posted in Pollution at 7:29 am by allan
May 19, 2009`
Robson Bight salvage – mission accomplished
Hello everyone,
The term “Mission Accomplished” has achieved such a tawdry reputation
in recent times that one has to be hesitant about using it. However,
occasionally it is appropriate, and well deserved. We are happy to
report that such is the case for the Robson Bight salvage
operation. By 3pm today, the tanker truck laden with 10,000 litres
of toxic diesel fuel had been lifted from the murky depths below
Robson Bight and safely deposited on the attendant operations barge.
The threat is no more… finis… mission accomplished!
The previous two days had been spent waiting, at times with great
hope, and at times with frustration and real worry. Sunday morning
was spent deploying and testing the great yellow metal box within
which the tanker truck was to be housed during its journey to the
surface. Everything went well, and both crew and officials were
reportedly very pleased with the progress that had been made. The
scene was set for the final lift, but the weather forecast was poor,
and a decision was made to postpone it to the following day.
Almost coincidental with the decision to postpone the final lift, a
maneuver to adjust the orientation of the fuel tanker and lift its
wheels out of the muck was announced. Over the radio being used for
communications between the operations team, the exchange went
something like “we’re not going to lift the truck today, but we’re
going to move it”. To listeners worried about the possibly fragile
state of the tanker after being unseen for nearly 2 years, the
laconic remark came as a shock, provoking immediate recall of the
“we’re going to stir the tanks” comment that headed the Apollo 13
moon mission into disaster and heroism.
As things turned out, the currents 350m below Robson Bight were too
strong to allow the maneuver on Sunday, so it was accomplished on
Monday morning. The reports at first were that everything had gone
well, and the tanker truck was now sitting in perfect position for
the lift. Then, in the space of a moment, everything changed. The
calm scene on the operations barge became suddenly energetic as
numerous people rushed around tossing pieces and then bales of
absorbent cloth into the water, and the little oil spill cleanup
contingency operation swung into high gear, with booms being dragged
between pairs of vessels that moved back & forth through the area
around the operations barge. It was obvious that something unexpected
had happened, and that an oil spill cleanup operation was underway.
A couple of hours later, after an ROV inspection of the tanker truck,
and no visible sign of a spreading oil spill, it was concluded that
what had happened was a “burp” from the tanker as it was moved, and
not a breach of its shell. As darkness fell, the prospect of
disaster had diminished, and (most of) the crew slept well.
Tuesday (this) morning dawned perfectly, with a flat ocean and a hint
of sunshine to come. The crew went to work immediately, and by 9am
the great yellow metal box intended to house the tanker and contain a
spill of diesel if this happened on the way to the surface, was
already below water. Several hours followed during which the ROV
positioned the box around the tanker and secured it inside. A little
before 1pm, the lift began, accompanied by radio borne expressions
like “up easy”, “stop” “all stop” “easy” “a little faster”, until
around 1:40pm the lift was stopped and divers entered the water for
a close inspection of the box and tanker. The inspection completed,
apparently without any sign of trouble, the lift continued; a few
minutes later the yellow roof of the box at last came into view. It
took a full half hour of additional inspection and maneuvering before
the decision was made to lift the box onto the deck of the attendant
barge. By 3pm the great yellow box and its deadly cargo was secure
on the barge. Not a drop of diesel had entered the water… danger
averted, mission complete.
Everyone involved in this saga deserves sincere thanks,
congratulations, and applause. It’s a long list. We especially wish
to acknowledge the tireless energy of the NGOs, led by Soinula’s
Living Oceans Society and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society,
who convinced governments to act. The Namgis First Nation, Village
of Alert Bay and Mount Waddington Regional District added persuasive
voices. Once the decision had been made, the practical focus of
British Columbia’s Ministry of Environment, led by Randy Alexander,
got the salvage effort underway. The Dutch company Mammoet Salvage,
along with its Seattle partner Global Diving, performed their roles
splendidly.
A couple of final whale notes: On Sunday, a group of transient orcas
headed west in Johnstone Strait, passing just outside the salvage
scene. They turned out to be the T18s, the same group of orcas that
had been sighted nearby on August 20th 2007, the exact date of the
barge accident in Robson Bight. And yesterday, amidst the anxiety
of the salvage operation, a report came in of an entangled humpback
whale in a nearby inlet. Crews from DFO and Straitwatch immediately
headed to the scene, and found a young humpback, perhaps 2 years old,
seriously entangled in more than a dozen trap lines. Eventually, and
very carefully, the lines were cut and the whale swam free. What a
day that was, and what a week this has been!
Very relieved, this comes with our best wishes to you all,
Paul & Helena
Ps… below is the Orcalab report on the success of Phase One of the salvage operation… Also a success!!!!
May 16, 2009
Robson Bight salvage: phase one success
Hello everyone,
Yesterday, after several days of preparation, and waiting for weather conditions to improve, the first phase of the Robson Bight salvage operation was completed successfully.
The target was a cube like container filled with dozens of pails of hydraulic oil, some 1,400 litres in all, that lay amidst a field of logging equipment debris at a depth of 350m below Robson Bight. After hours of close inspection via an ROV (remotely operated vehicle) it was decided not to lower a metal box over the container as an initial safety step, as doing so may have caused cables to snag in the surrounding debris. Instead, the ROV was used to attach two cables to the container, and after a couple of hours spent waiting for deep underwater currents to slacken, the container and its toxic load was hoisted directly to the surface.
To guard against the possibility of an oil spill, a boom was deployed downwind from the container, while several other vessels laden with additional booms and cleanup equipment stood close by. The container was kept just below the surface for several minutes, and then hoisted onto the deck of the barge used as the base of operations. As it was hoisted from the water, dirty grey water poured out of the container, and an oily sheen spread across the surface of the water towards the guard boom. Crews in the boats standing by immediately set to work putting absorbent material into the water at the edge of the boom. The small quantity of oil was swiftly dealt with, and within an hour there was no sign of it at all.
Without question, this first phase of the Robson Bight salvage operation has been a success. The next, and more difficult phase, removing the diesel fuel tanker, will be undertaken sometime within the next few days.
Please make whatever use of this you may wish, and also of the photos we’ve posted on www.orcalab.org.
We will report again soon, hopefully with more good news. Meanwhile, and as ever, this comes with our best wishes to you all,
Paul & Helena
Permalink
Comments off
05.14.09
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:46 am by allan
May 12, 2009
Robson Bight salvage set to begin
Hello everyone,
At long last, the salvage of the diesel fuel tanker that fell to the bottom of Robson Bight, on August 20th 2007 is set to begin. A barge laden with salvage equipment is anchored over the site, and a 30 person crew from Mammoet Salvage, a Dutch company, and Seattle based Global Diving & Salvage, has been busily getting everything ready for the operation over the past few days. Local First Nations and NGOs are also involved, helping to monitor the sensitive environment surrounding the Ecological Reserve that was created in 1982 to protect vital orca habitat.
The salvage will probably begin tomorrow (May 13th). Giant anchors have already been deployed to keep the barge in place. Today, a small remotely operated vehicle (ROV) equipped with cameras is inspecting the underwater site. Hopefully, this inspection will ensure that the tanker truck and other debris are located exactly where they were when last seen in December 2007. Hopefully, too, the inspection will determine that the condition of the diesel tanker truck has not deteriorated to the point where it will break apart when moved.
To help avoid the possibility of a spill of diesel oil during the tricky lifting part of the operation, a metal box (yellow in the photo at http://www.orcalab.org) will first be lowered over the tanker truck, which will then be secured inside the box. A huge crane on the barge will lift the box and its deadly cargo to the surface. When the load reaches 10m below the surface, divers will inspect the box and tanker, to determine whether any diesel has leaked during the lift. If there are no leaks, the box and tanker will be hoisted onto the deck of the barge. At that point, the diesel will be pumped out of the fuel tanker into another storage tank, and everyone involved will breathe a collective sigh of relief.
Weather permitting; the job of lifting will start tomorrow, beginning with a container filled with dozens of pails of hydraulic oil. If all goes well with this initial lift, the fuel truck will be hoisted to the surface the following day (Thursday) or perhaps a day later.
On the surface at least, the plan is a sound one, though the operation is still complicated and unknowns may lie in the way. To guard against the possibility of an inadvertent spill of oil, booms will be deployed around the site. Everyone involved hopes they won’t be needed, and that the weather cooperates.
We will let you know what happens once the salvage operation is completed. In the meanwhile, our fingers are crossed.
As ever, this comes with our best wishes to you all,
Paul & Helena (Orcalab)
Permalink
Comments off
04.20.08
Posted in Uncategorized, Pollution, Environment at 7:57 am by allan
Hello everyone,
We have good news. Yesterday, British Columbias Environment Minister Barry Penner announced that Canada�s federal government will cooperate with the province in removing the diesel fuel tanker now lying underwater in the Ecological Reserve at Robson Bight. Though no definite timing was stated, subsequent comments by Minister Penner clearly indicated that officials are aware that the northern resident orcas are expected to return by early summer.
The decision represents real progress on an issue that should have impelled immediate action of the part of governments. The aftermath of the August 20th accident saw a smoke & mirrors dance (no problem) that delayed inspection of the wreckage, and then, once the dire situation had been dramatically revealed in underwater imagery, we were treated with stalling instead of planning. It took considerable effort from the public side to convince our governments to do an underwater inspection of the wreckage in the first instance, and then even more effort to convince them to do what was obvious from the outset. Now, finally, we have a decision, but is it in time?
We are left feeling very encouraged, but still worried. If the tanker with its toxic cargo can be removed before the orcas return, great, but if it cannot, we will find ourselves once again waiting. What happens now will depend on the ability of government officials to move swiftly through the process of awarding a contract and having the job done. If a call for bids happens this coming week, with a very short window for submissions, and very soon thereafter the contract is awarded, there is time, barely.
As we hold our collective breath, we want to acknowledge the participants in this drama who have brought us to this hopeful point. Living Oceans Society has been instrumental from the outset; BCs Environment Minister Barry Penner has been a true listener and advocate; North Island MLA Claire Trevena has worked quietly behind the scenes in Victoria; North Island MP Catherine Bell has been vocal in Canadas Parliament; and our local leaders: Namgis First Nation Chief Bill Cranmer, Alert Bay Mayor John Rowell, Port McNeill Mayor Gerry Furney, and the board of our Regional District have actively sought a decision. To all of them we are very grateful; and behind & in front of all of them stand all those who have pressed the issue, insisting that those who have the responsibility, act responsibly.
At this point, we have a simple and pleasant request for you to act on. Please write again to the Ministers involved, thanking them for their decision. At the same time, please request that they do what is needed before the orcas return, i.e. before mid June, 2008. Thank you.
Contact details for Ministers Penner and Hearn:
The Honourable Barry Penner
Minister of the Environment
P.O. Box 9047, Stn. Prov. Gov’t.
Victoria, B.C.
V8W 9E2 Canada
phone: 1-250-387-1187
fax: 1-250-387-1356
Email: env.minister@gov.bc.ca
The Honourable Loyola Hearn, Minister
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
200 Kent St. Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0E6 Canada
phone: 1-613-992-3474
fax: 1-613- 995-7858
Email: Min@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
As ever, this comes with our best wishes to you all,
Paul & Helena (Orcalab)
Permalink
Comments off
03.29.08
Posted in Uncategorized, Pollution, Environment at 8:33 am by allan
When a barge dangerously laden with logging equipment, including a tanker truck of diesel fuel, spilled its load in the heart of the world’s best known orca habitat – the Ecological Reserve at Robson Bight - last August 20th, whale lovers were outraged, environmentalists dismayed, the public alerted, and even the oil industry took note.
Canada’s initial response, via its Coastguard, was to discount the possibility of serious impacts by claiming all the oil and fuel had been released and dispersed. Eventually, after being pressured by NGOs who raised the funds needed to conduct an underwater investigation, the governments of British Columbia and Canada commissioned an underwater inspection of the spill site. This was completed in early December. Months later, despite video evidence (www.livingoceans.org) that the tanker truck is intact and probably still full of toxic diesel fuel we are still waiting for an announcement that the next obvious step – cleanup – will be undertaken before the orcas return in early summer. Organising and conducting the cleanup will take time, once the decision is made, and time is passing quickly. Meanwhile, a ticking toxic time bomb is lying on the ocean floor 350m below Robson Bight.
The absence of official reaction to the evidence from the underwater inspection is puzzling, and disturbing. The only thing that seems clear is that once again the governments are dragging their feet. Possibly they are hoping the problem will go away if they ignore it long enough. That simply isn’t good enough. The orcas will return soon, probably in June & no later than July. If the fuel tanker isn’t removed by the time the orcas arrive, it will be considered too risky to do the job until they leave again in the fall or early winter. This means the cleanup could be pushed back to next spring. Meanwhile, the diesel might remain inside the tanker, or it might not. If it is released when orcas are present, the result could be catastrophic. Leaving it lying at the bottom with orcas swimming above is foolhardy and negligent. For the orcas’ sake, and to ensure the ecological integrity of Robson Bight, the job must be done now. Waiting any longer is not an option.
As a matter of urgency, please insist that Canada and British Columbia act now. Thank you.
Here are the contact details:
The Honourable Loyola Hearn, Minister
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
200 Kent St. Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0E6 Canada
phone: 1-613-992-3474
fax: 1-613- 995-7858
Eamail: Min@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
The Honourable Barry Penner
Minister of the Environment
P.O. Box 9047, Stn. Prov. Gov’t.
Victoria, B.C.
V8W 9E2 Canada
phone: 1-250-387-1187
fax: 1-250-387-1356
Email: env.minister@gov.bc.ca
Source: Orcalab
Permalink
Comments off
02.27.08
Posted in Uncategorized, Pollution, Environment at 7:13 pm by allan
It looks like the kind of rubbish that piles up on waste ground or adorns hedgerows.
But this collection of plastic bags was found in a far more disturbing place - the stomach of a minke whale washed up from the English Channel.
The young female suffered an appalling death, starved, exhausted and in agonising pain.
The discovery in 2002 was a wake-up call for marine scientists, who realised that plastic bags and other waste were one of the biggest threats to the whales, dolphins and turtles swimming around our shores.
The minke was found on the Normandy coast. At first, it was assumed she had died of natural causes.
When her stomach was cut open, scientists were amazed to find nearly two pounds of plastic bags, eaten by mistake as she searched for food.
The 2lb haul included two plastic bags from English supermarkets, seven transparent plastic bags, and fragments from seven dustbin bags.
In an ironic twist, one of the bags found in the gut of the dead whale appears to read: “We support good farm animal welfare.”
Most worrying of all, there was no proper food in her stomach.
Minkes are among the smallest of the whales and the fastest moving. They can be seen swimming off the coasts of Scotland, Ireland and the South West.
The females are around 24ft long and weigh between five and ten tons. They can live for up to 60 years.
Although minkes are not threatened with immediate extinction, whale campaigners are concerned about their numbers. There are thought to be fewer than 184,000 left in the Atlantic.
Until the 1980s their biggest danger was hunters from Japan, Norway and Iceland. But another major threat has emerged in the plastic debris and rubbish in the seas.
Minkes feed by sieving huge amounts of water through plates in their mouths. The technique is supposed to catch small fish.
But as the seas get more polluted, the whales are also swallowing more rubbish.
The plastic can block their digestive tracts, causing serious internal damage. If the creatures consume enough bags, their stomachs become full, they stop eating and they starve.
A spokesman for the Marine Conservation Society said the Normandy minke had shocked the scientific world.
“It is an appalling amount of plastic to find in one female whale,” he said. “It brings home what happens if we allow plastics into the marine environment.”
Source: Daily Mail
Online petition available at the Daily Mail.
Permalink
Comments off
02.05.08
Posted in Uncategorized, Sonar, Environment at 7:16 am by allan
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge in California on Monday reinstated a series of provisions meant to protect whales from high-powered sonar during military exercises in the Pacific Ocean.
The decision was a rebuke to an effort by the Bush administration to exempt the Navy from those rules and from federal law.
The decision, by Judge Florence-Marie Cooper of Federal District Court, found that the administration’s Council on Environmental Quality had overreached on Jan. 15 when it cited “urgent national security reasons” to approve weaker rules for the exercises.
In early January, Judge Cooper issued an injunction on naval exercises in the Pacific, requiring a series of mitigation efforts including shipboard and aerial monitors to watch for whales and a mandatory shutdown of midfrequency sonar whenever whales were spotted within 2,200 yards of ships.
But the council’s move coincided with the president’s waiver exempting the Navy from the Coastal Zone Management Act, which environmental groups had used as a legal basis for their arguments against the Navy’s use of midfrequency sonar. The groups say the sonar can injure, disorient and even kill certain species of whales. The Navy then appealed Judge Cooper’s injunction to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which sent the case back to the district court.
On Monday, however, Judge Cooper rejected the administration’s arguments and raised serious questions on the constitutionality of the president’s waiver.
Full story: New York Times
Permalink
01.29.08
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:56 am by allan
The Chinese white dolphin spotted last Friday around a hydropower station in the Shunde district of Foshan, Guangdong Province, might have returned to the sea, officials and researchers said yesterday.
“We got reports from the local residents Friday morning and started tracking the dolphin that afternoon,” Foshan Chief of Fishery Administration Xue Yongxiang said by phone. “But it disappeared on Saturday and we haven’t gotten any more reports since then.
“But no news means good news sometimes. It might have returned to the place where it’s supposed to be.”
The visiting Chinese white dolphin was the first one reported in Shunde in the past 30 years, which was when records started being kept, according to the district’s agriculture department.
The district is located along the Xijiang River - an extension of the Pearl River.
Full story: China.org
Permalink
01.26.08
Posted in Uncategorized, Sonar at 10:37 am by allan
With the official all-clear from President Bush, the U.S. Navy began underwater sonar training off the San Diego coast this week, despite its own estimates showing that hundreds or thousands of whales will be harmed by the high-frequency pings being pumped into the Pacific.
Lt. Mark Walton, of the Third Fleet, confirmed that a battle group of approximately 5,000 people and an aircraft carrier are training on submarine detection, using midfrequency sonar somewhere off the San Diego coast. He stressed that the Navy is taking precautions to minimize and prevent injury to marine mammals during the two-week training.
The training comes even though a federal lawsuit filed by the California Coastal Commission and environmental groups last month won severe restrictions on the Navy’s use of sonar off the California coast under the Coastal Zone Management Act. Last week, Bush issued a memorandum exempting the Navy from the environmental law used to win the ruling. The legality of Bush’s action remains to be tested.
“This is unacceptable and we have filed a new brief to challenge the waiver,” says David Hinerfeld, spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council in Los Angeles. “It is beyond dispute that sonar kills whales — the court quoted the Navy’s own estimates of damage that this testing will affect the hearing of 8,000 whales and permanently injure 450.”
Full story: Wired
Permalink
01.18.08
Posted in Uncategorized, Sonar at 12:14 pm by allan
In a Navy-vs.-whales case watched closely by environmentalists from California to the Puget Sound area, President Bush on Wednesday exempted the Navy from some environmental laws.
The fight is over permission to use sonar during Navy warfare training exercises off the coast of California. The military itself admitted that the sonar could permanently injure whales and dolphins.
In a memorandum issued while he was traveling in the Middle East, Bush said the training was “in the paramount interest of the United States” and “essential to national security,” and he therefore issued the Navy a waiver excusing it from certain laws.
While the waiver applied specifically to training in California, environmentalists were troubled by the precedent it could set.
“If the administration can just wave a magic wand and do away with the will of Congress and do away with the will of the courts, that raises a very serious question about how our democracy is functioning,” said Daniel Hinerfeld, spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which sued to curtail the use of sonar.
Full story: Seattlepi
Permalink
01.04.08
Posted in Uncategorized, Sonar, Environment at 9:30 am by allan
A federal judge in Los Angeles on Thursday ordered the toughest set of restrictions ever imposed on the U.S. Navy’s use of mid-frequency sonar off the Southern California coast as part of a protracted court battle to protect whales and other marine mammals from underwater sonic blasts.
The order was the first time the judge has spelled out specific rules the Navy must follow to avoid a court-imposed ban on training missions with a type of sonar that has been linked to the death and panicked behavior of whales and dolphins.
U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper ordered the Navy to refrain from using the powerful submarine-hunting sonar within 12 miles of the coast, a corridor heavily used by migrating gray whales, dolphins and other marine mammals.
She also ordered that the Navy spend an hour before it starts any training mission searching for marine mammals in the area and that it continue using shipboard observers and aircraft to monitor for whales and dolphins while the sonar is in use.
If any marine mammals are spotted within 2,200 yards of a ship using sonar, the Navy will have to cease its use immediately.
In her 18-page order, Cooper said the Navy’s proposed strategy of slowly reducing sonar power and then shutting it off when whales or dolphins come within 200 yards “is grossly inadequate to protect marine mammals from debilitation levels of sonar exposure.”
The judge, who has spent years poring over studies about whale deaths and injuries after Navy exercises, has suggested in her rulings that she wants to balance competing interests of national security and fleet readiness with environmental protections.
She noted that the Navy’s own study concluded that upcoming exercises off Southern California “will cause widespread harm to nearly 30 species of marine mammals, including five species of endangered whales and may cause permanent injury and death.”
Full story: LA Times
Permalink
« Previous entries ·