Department of Fisheries and Oceans Declines to Investigate Second English Bay Oil Spill

Large Diesel Spill Spotted Near Site of last years English Bay Oil Spill

by Stand.Earth

April 15, 2016

Vancouver, BC - The Coast Guard has confirmed a spill of diesel oil in Vancouver’s English Bay following reports of large slick in Vancouver Harbour.

Sven Biggs, campaigner with the environmental group Stand, formally know as ForestEthics, released the following statement:

"Just one year and a week after the last major oil spill in Vancouver we see another massive slick is spreading out across English Bay, near where Humpback Whales were recently spotted. While this spill is not as serious as last years bunker oil spill and no where near as dangerous as a spill of tar sands bitumen, which Kinder Morgan plans to ship through the port in over 400 oil tankers a year if their pipeline is approved, it is a good reminder that oil and water don’t mix.

"The federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) has issued a statement saying this latest spill will have no environmental impact but it is hard to look at the images of yet another slick right off Vancouver’s beaches and hear reports of a strong smell of oil from people in our waterfront parks and not be concerned for the state of our marine environment.

"To add insult to injury the DFO says they says they will not be investigating the source of the oil. Following last years spill we were promised better spill response, today's events cause me to question if anything has really changed."

STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 

For more information
Sven Biggs - sven@stand.earth

Stand is an advocacy organization made up of people challenging governments and corporations to make the health of our communities, our environment and our climate the top priority. Stand.Earth