Oil and chemical spill tracking

Spills of oil and chemicals into freshwater and ocean environments have killed fish, degraded habitat, and led to closures of commercial, recreational, and Indigenous fisheries. Raincoast’s Healthy Waters Program is positioned to collect data at the scene of a spill and collaborate with various organizations and First Nations to understand the impact of a spill. 

Tracker will host a number of rugged analytical instruments, and enable the measurement of several contaminants in the field, including coliform bacteria, nutrients, metals, pesticides, and tracers of wastewater effluent.
Photo by Peter Ross.
Two sockeye salmon swimming in a river.
Photo by Fernando Lessa.

Spills happen

Spills originate from all manner of accidents. The 2005 train derailment that spilled caustic soda into the Cheakamus River that killed 500,000 fish, The 2015 spill of 3,000 L of Bunker C oil from the MV Marathassa into English Bay. The 2020 fire aboard the MV ZIM Kingston in Juan de Fuca Strait that resulted in the loss of 104 mixed cargo shipping containers into the ocean. Each and every accident is bad news, and threatens the health of fish and whales, and contributes to the degradation of their habitats.

Being prepared is key

Given the sudden and unpredictable nature of oil and chemical spills, our oil and chemical spill response work entails being agile and available for support to First Nations, government agencies, and industry during a major spill. We are developing science protocols, and acquiring sampling kits, field equipment, and safety gear, and are poised to deploy our team to the scene of a spill. 

Being prepared on all fronts is key to limiting the damage from a spill. We recognize that with spills, it’s not a matter of if, but when. Research and monitoring to confirm the origin of the spill, track the fate of the spilled product, and monitor the recovery of ecosystem components routinely fails to be a priority. We will deploy expert capacity where and when needed, and work to prevent harm to valued ecosystem components.

Two people working together to collect water samples in a farm field with the mountains in the background.
Photo by Alex Harris.
https://www.raincoast.org/reports/flood

Semá:th X̱ó:tsa (Sumas Lake) Floods of 2021

The catastrophic floods of late 2021 in southern British Columbia (Canada) and neighbouring Washington State (USA) destroyed homes, farms and businesses, with excess water spilling debris, animal carcasses and diesel fuel into historically productive fish habitat. 

We assembled a team to assess water quality in the former Semá:th X̱ó:tsa (Sumas Lake) area of the Fraser Valley over a seven-week period after the floods. We collected water samples from 11 surface water sites and four groundwater sites for comprehensive contaminant analysis and a subsequent risk-based evaluation. We measured 379 analytes (chemical components and bacteria), including 262 anthropogenic contaminants. We examined excess nutrients, metals, fecal coliform, hydrocarbons, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products, perfluorinated compounds, sucralose, and tire-related chemicals.

Read the report

Recent articles

dummy-img

Early ontogenetic diet of wolves

Bryan, J., CT Darimont, T.E. Reimchen, and P.C. Paquet. 2006. Early ontogenetic diet of wolves. Canadian Field-Naturalist. 20:61-66 Wolf diet in pdf
A deer standing on a rock next to a body of water.

A Rainforest Awakening

by Chris Genovali January 2007 From Victoria, B.C. Last fall, Raincoast’s wolf team conducted a ten-day expedition on our research vessel Achiever.  We collected genetic samples from areas in the Great Bear Rainforest we had not yet visited and to re-visit wolf home sites we had previously identified. One evening, we anchored by a wolf hot spot….
Fish farms on the BC coast threaten wild salmon.

A Day to be Heard

A nation’s stand against open-net salmon farming and an appeal to BC’s Special Committee on Sustainable Aquaculture
dummy-img

A Living Ocean

Hecate Strait is one of the roughest bodies of water on earth, but today we can see the reflections of clouds on its surface. We are nearing the end of a long day, which is nearly the last of our field season, which is, in turn, the last summer of our three-year whale survey. But…
dummy-img

Cutting to the Chase

A young wolf races along the shore, his gangly legs negotiating the rocky shoreline as effortlessly as an Olympic gymnast performing a tried routine. Only a fleeting glance over his shoulder betrays his fear as he disappears into the forest. We look at each other in awe as a few moments of calm descend on…
dummy-img

Open House

The Koeye (K’way) watershed is located about 30 miles south of Bella Bella in Fitz Hugh Sound in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest. Today, there are about three hundred of us gathered on the sandy beach to witness the opening of the Koeye Big House that has been built over the last four…
dummy-img

Notes From the Shipyard

Raincoast’s dedicated research boat, a 66-foot steel hulled sloop called Achiever, is very close to being operational for 2006. We will launch her from the Shelter Island Shipyard on the Fraser River on July 15 at 10am, and as that day approaches we are ticking off the remaining tasks like items on a grocery list….
dummy-img

Facts from faeces: Prey remains in Wolf, Canis lupus, faeces revise occurrence records for mammals of British Columbia’s coastal archipelago.

Price, M.H.H., C.T. Darimont, N.N. Winchester, and P.C. Paquet. 2005. Facts from Faeces: Prey Remains in Wolf, Canis lupus, Faeces Revise Occurrence Records for Mammals of British Columbia’s Coastal Archipelago. The Canadian Field Naturalist 119(2): 192-196. Facts from faeces.pdf