Oil spill in B.C. sends windsurfers scrambling

Published 9:00 pm Friday, August 4, 2006

SQUAMISH, B.C. – An oil spill reported Friday in Howe Sound north of Vancouver sent windsurfers scrambling out of the water.

The cargo ship Westwood Anette hit a pier at a terminal and a fuel tank burst, Canadian Coast Guard spokesman Dan Bate said.

A cleanup company was contracted immediately, he said, and two large holes on the starboard side of the ship were repaired about an hour after it ruptured.

“The spill was contained as soon as possible,” said Alex Mendes, a spokesman for Ocean Agencies, hired by Westwood Shipping to coordinate the cleanup.

Mendes could not say how much oil spilled into the water.

“All I can say is we’ve got about 20 personnel working out in the water with various heavy equipment.”

“The fuel spill is being pushed by the waves, current and winds into the Squamish Estuary and is affecting the shoreline, marshes and wildlife,” Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Dave Ritchie said in a news release. He did not specify exactly what those effects were.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Transportation Safety Board, Canadian Coast Guard, Provincial Emergency Program and Provincial Conservation Officers were investigating.

At least four windsurfers were covered in the sticky, black bunker fuel but there were no serious injuries.