Coast Guard crews descended on Gerrans Bay in Pender Harbour this week to deal with a spill from a boat that sank on Oct. 19.
The San Jolyne III was one of a group of boats tied up at a private dock, that also includes the Pacific Challenge, where a fire in late 2017 claimed the life of a man who鈥檇 been living aboard.
According to the Canadian Coast Guard, observers first reported a sheen on the water in the area on the evening of the 19th.
鈥淚t was originally thought to be a one-time release, but a sheen was again observed and reported on Saturday,鈥� an emailed statement to Coast Reporter said.
An environmental response team was sent to Pender Harbour on Monday and placed a boom around the group of vessels. The Coast Guard said while a sheen is still visible on the water, the pollutants are considered 鈥渘ot recoverable.鈥�
The statement goes on to say that Coast Guard crews were still on site Oct. 23 monitoring the progress of the owner鈥檚 efforts to raise the sunken boat.
Lee-Ann Ennis, a program coordinator with the Ruby Lake Lagoon Society and Pender Harbour Ocean Discovery Station (PODS), said with salmon runs starting in the creeks around Pender Harbour, a bigger spill could have had serious consequences and a quick response would be critical, which is why PODS has applied for federal funding to put spill response equipment at its Irvines Landing site.
Currently the Coast Guard has to bring the resources over from the Lower Mainland.
鈥淲e feel that we could respond much faster locally, and using all the local resources and all of our expertise, and we could be the site of a spill response unit,鈥� Ennis said.
鈥淏eing one of the largest protected harbours on the whole B.C. coast, this is an excellent place for a spill response unit, and also this corner of the Georgia Strait is a good place to strategically place one [for the south coast].鈥�
