New oil spill response base hinges on pipeline expansion
Posted September 6, 2016 3:46 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Plans to build a new oil spill response base in Vancouver are moving forward. The proposal aims to cut response times in half and double capacity.
But there’s a catch.
It’s all part of a $200 million commitment from Trans Mountain to bump up Canada’s spill response and it’s hinged on the pipeline expansion project’s approval – expected in December.
Michael Lowry with Western Canada Marine Response says it would make a big difference in the time it takes to get to a spill both in Vancouver Harbour and also in the Southern Shipping lane.
“A part of those enhancements would include a number of new bases along that route and also an investment in new employees. We will be adding about 115 new employees and probably 26 new vessels as well within that area,” he explains.
“We don’t really have an on-water foothold right now in Vancouver Harbour so this base would allow us not only to house our vessels but to have a crew on site 24/7… so they would be on-call to be able to get onto vessels almost immediately.”
The on-water base would be built on Commissioner Street, near New Brighton Park, on the site of the old Prince Rupert Fishing Co-operative.
