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

Man standing on the top of a hill with trees in the background.

The story of Coastal Douglas-fir forests: Living within rather than apart from the places that sustain us

This installment is the first of several articles seeking to explore the ways ecosystems  differ between the islands within the Coastal Douglas-fir (CDF) biogeoclimatic zone. Adam Huggins, Restoration Coordinator with the Galiano Conservancy Association (GCA), explains the ways topography, historic land use, and shifting economies have influenced and continue to shape the ways CDF forests…
Two women in high vis vests setting up a wildlife cam on a stump.

Landslides, clearcuts, and camera traps: surveilling wolves on an industrial landscape

In two field days, we deployed nine remote cameras throughout the valley.
Forest floor with a stream running through, in the Maxwell Creek Watershed.

Maxwell Creek Watershed Project Field Files Part 1: Project Impetus

Registered environmental charity, Transition Salt Spring has partnered with experts and organizations from across the Coastal Douglas-fir biogeoclimatic zone, including Raincoast Conservation Foundation, to provide a model for on-the-ground, multidisciplinary, multisectoral, and collaborative climate action.  We interviewed Ruth Waldick from Transition Salt Spring to learn more about Maxwell Creek Watershed project.  What is the Maxwell…
Hooded merganser flying over the ocean.

KELÁ_EKE Kingfisher Forest matching campaign update

Altogether, we have raised a total of $571,222.69 since we announced our intention to purchase and protect KELÁ_EKE Kingfisher Forest.
Richard Hebda standing in front of a stump.

The story of Coastal Douglas-fir forests: An ancient legacy, a critical future

Eleven and half thousand years ago is a mighty long time for a major forest ecosystem. Yet, that is how long Coastal Douglas-fir forests have existed on Canada’s west coast, longer than most other forested biogeoclimatic zones in British Columbia!
Wolf walking through an estuary.

The cull of the wild: management for industry, not wolves

Is such a large experiment in wolf control, given its limited signal of efficacy and an unrelenting appetite of industry, worth the carnage?
Landscape of the Kitlope

The Kitlope: A place that changes you

Sacred to the Haisla and known as Xesdu’wäxw (Huschduwaschdu), which means “blue, milky, glacial water”, the Kitlope is now the largest protected temperate rainforest on the planet. 
Field of wildflowers by the sea.

The story of Coastal Douglas-fir forests: The interconnectedness of people and place

After thousands of years of evolution alongside Coast Salish peoples, the story of Coastal Douglas-fir forests and associated habitats is inseparable from the story of those who shaped them.