Regarding the Corporate Media Coverage of the HMCS Calgary Spill
by Ingmar Lee - 10,000 Ton Tanker
February 25, 2018
Not a single one of CBC, Global, Times Colonist, Vancouver Sun, CHEK News, the Ottawa Citizen, or CTV News bothered to make an effort to get out there (the spill area is no more than a 1/2 hour boat ride from downtown Vancouver) and see what was going on for themselves.All of these corporate media simply repeated the ROTE RESPONSE dictated to them by "official" Navy, and Environment Canada spokespeople.
Some of the questions any self-respecting reporter would have asked would be:
- When exactly did the HMCS Calgary's Captain first become aware of the spill?
- When exactly did the HMCS Calgary's Captain first notify his superiors and other authorities?
- How long did the leak continue? (given that Captain "Buck" Zwick claims that it was a "very slow leak," then it follows that it must have been leaking for quite a while to discharge 30,000 litres into the sea. (My source tells me that it leaked for 5 hours)
- Has the Kinder Morgan-owned spill response corporation, -"Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC)" -with its BC-wide monopoly mandate to respond to up to a 10,000 deadweight ton spill anywhere on the BC coast been tasked?
- If not, why not? Is the Canadian Navy's response service more "World Class" thn WCMRC's "World Class" service?
- During the "Nathan E Stewart" tanker wreck near Bella Bella in 2016, all the corporate media, spill experts and other authorities claimed that the 100,000 gallon diesel spill " would simply evaporate into the environment," as is being claimed about the product spilled from the HMCS Calgary. If the "Nathan E Stewart's" spill was so harmless, why is so much of the Heiltsuk Nation's traditional seafood gathering territory still off-limits, by DFO decree, to this day??
We can be sure that no photographs of video of the spill will be forthcoming. And if you look at ANY corporate media coverage of ANY oil disaster in Canada, you will see these same, word for word responses:
~"F76 is a marine distillate. It is light in nature and is extremely similar to kerosene. This type of fuel will readily evaporate in the marine setting. The response is ongoing until we have confirmation that everything is good. We will keep looking and doing our due diligence" ~Navy spokeswoman Lt. Melissa Kia ~CTV News
~“The fuel response is still in its initial stages,” said the navy’s Maritime Forces Pacific in a statement. “As the situation progresses, it will become clearer as to the timeline for any required spill cleanup.” ~Vancouver Sun
~"We take environmental stewardship very seriously and we're working proactively to address this as quickly as possible," Commodore Buck Zwick told a news conference at CFB Esquimalt Sunday afternoon. Zwick said the fuel is similar to kerosene, lighter than water and quickly evaporates. "This fuel historically does not provide a significant effect to marine life," he said. ~CBC
~Tracy Cornforth, who speaks for safety and environment with the Canadian Navy, said it would be unusual for the fuel to remain in the water or combine with sediment in the ocean.
"You don't find any kind of sheen or slick in the marine environment just due to the nature of the fuel and the fact that it readily evaporates so quickly," Conforth told the news conference. ~CBC
~Experts at Environment and Climate Change Canada helped the navy by providing computer modelling, taking into account the current and tides, to estimate the potential shoreline that might be affected. They believe that the spill will have limited impact on the environment. The spill took place while the vessel was about in the middle of the strait.
~Times Colonist
~Zwick said officials at Environment and Climate Change Canada have “completed detailed modelling of what would be the potential effects of this spill on the shoreline. Their models indicate a very limited impact."
~Officials say the crew of the vessel immediately notified Navy officials and Environment Canada once they noticed the ship was gradually leaking the fuel. ~CHEK News
(This statement contradicts my source, which says that the spill actually happened on Saturday the 24th, but the HMCS Calgary did NOT notify officials until TODAY, -Sunday the 25th...)
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