Brendan Leeson feels like he is screaming for help and no one hears him.
Leeson is upset that a vessel sunk April 11, near the marina where he docks his own boat, and he said the fuel and other contaminants were still bubbling to the surface almost a week later.
A slick was visible on the water over the weekend in the Mamquam Blind Channel in downtown Squamish near the eastern end of Winnipeg Street.
“The problem isn’t so much the boat sinking – accidents happen,” Leeson said. But he said the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) Canada or the Coast Guard should have responded.
“This is a very small body of water… as the tide changes all this pollution goes down the bank and it oils up all along there, including all the herring eggs and everything else, and then the tide goes out… so as the water level drops, it basically paints the whole bank,” he said.
The owner of the sunken 34-foot, 1978 fiberglass pleasure boat, Lance Rainforest, said he tried to save his boat as it was sinking but couldn’t. He said he couldn’t afford to spend the $2,000 it would cost for a boom.
According to Leeson, Rainforest ran to the government dock nearby to ask for help to clean up the spill but was told no.
No one at the dock returned a call to The Squamish Chief about the incident.
A boom was needed to fence in the pollution until absorbent material could be brought in to soak it up, according to Leeson.
The DFO has the authority to have the slick cleaned up, Leeson said, and gets the report on what needs to be cleaned up from the Canadian Coast Guard.
According to a DFO spokesperson, the slick was investigated last Thursday.
“The Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) was alerted [April 16] to possible pollutants observed around a sunken vessel in the Squamish area. Western Canada Marine Response (WCMRC) was dispatched to the scene to assess the situation. The team found no pollution or leaks, and the substance seen was likely a very small rainbow sheen, which was washed away by the tide,” read a statement sent from a media spokesperson for Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Pacific Region.
Leeson said a vessel sinks in the area about every six months. He would like to see local marinas stocked with spill kits, including booms.
The District of Squamish is currently working on its marine strategy, which would give the district more authority over issues such as this sinking, according to the district.
Rainforest planned to raise the vessel himself on Wednesday afternoon, he said, after The Chief’s press deadline. Check Squamishchief.com for possible updates on this story.
