I have serious concerns about the effectiveness of the Ocean Protection Plan (OPP) the federal government is trying to implement. Having worked on the west coast of British Columbia for a number of years, I appreciate some of the challenges involved in order to recover spilled oil from coastal waters. However, we are not dealing with a cleaner crude oil, we are dealing with a bitumen-diluent mixture.
From the research I have done, the behaviour of the bitumen mixture in the ocean environment makes recovery of any appreciable amount very difficult. Estimations are that at most, 25 to 30 per cent of the spilled oil mixture could be reclaimed, assuming of course ideal weather and sea conditions exist for the duration of the recovery process. As I am sure you understand, the west coast experiences many days each year when conditions are far from ideal.
While I sincerely appreciate your intention to improve marine safety on the west coast of our country, I strongly believe there is insufficient evidence the OPP can provide for an effective means or process in which to reclaim bitumen in the event of a spill. Effective clean up of this dirty oil mixture from ocean waters is simply not possible. A bitumen spill will have serious negative and long lasting consequences on the coastal environment and the many people and wildlife that rely upon it.
I wish you would open a conversation with the Canadian public about your government’s understanding of what an effective bitumen spill recovery would look like and the potential impacts a spill could have on the coastal environment.
Richard Le Noury
Saanich
