A slick discovered in English Bay appears to be a small amount of diesel fuel from either a recreational or commercial boat, according to the Coast Guard.
Agency spokesman Dan Bate described the slick as a “non-event” because of its size, which he said appears larger than it is because the diesel is spread along the surface.
Heavier materials, such as the bunker fuel that spilled into the bay from the MV Marathassa one year ago this month, are much more concerning because they sink into the water.
The Coast Guard has yet to release an estimate of how much diesel is in Friday’s slick, but said the incident is nothing like the 2,700-litre spill from the Marathassa.
Coast Guard members responded to the scene along with crews from spill response corporation Western Canada Marine, who were dispatched to contain the fuel with booms.
Bate said the slick is considered non-recoverable, however, and will just have to evaporate.
The Marathassa spill happened on April 8, 2015, and triggered concern and outrage from the public and politicians alike over a six-hour delay in launching a containment and clean-up operation.
There was no such delay this time. The City of Vancouver, which wasn’t notified about last year’s spill until 11 hours after it was first reported to the Coast Guard, also confirmed it was alerted to the diesel slick in a “timely manner.”
The Kitsilano Coast Guard base that was closed by the federal Conservatives remains shuttered, and didn’t play a part in the diesel spill response. The Liberal government, which made a campaign promise to reopen the base, said it will be operatoinal again on May 1.
