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

Lots of garbage on a beach.

The Great Beach Cleanup

Raincoast’s Guide Outfitter Coordinator and Ship Captain, Brian Falconer shares about his experience on the Marine Debris Removal Initiative.
Salmon smolt in a viewfinder being held up by a hand with the Fraser River in the background.

Behind the scenes of the multi-faceted Lower Fraser Salmon Conservation Program

Our recent Lower Fraser Salmon Recovery Brief provides an update on our collaborative research, restoration and conservation initiatives underway. Below, we provide overviews of these efforts under each recommendation, which are further outlined in the Briefing.
Lower Fraser River Salmon Recovery Brief cover sits on the sandy floor of the Fraser, and a tiny fish.

Lower Fraser River Salmon Recovery Brief

This collaborative work to recover wild salmon and restore the ecological resilience of the Lower Fraser River and Estuary is outlined in the Lower Fraser Salmon Recovery Brief.
Drone photo of an intact forest with the ocean in the background on a sunny day.

Webinar: Tree Protection and the Islands Trust

We are hosting a webinar on July 28th at noon to decode the complexities of tree and forest protection policy within the jurisdiction of the Islands Trust.
Two people looking up at a tree with one person measuring the height of a tree using an inclinometer.

Measuring trees – introducing our new “how-to” video series

We are thrilled to be releasing video tutorials on how to measure trees that we co-created with Nerdy About Nature! We’ve learned so much from Ross Reid, the ‘nerd’ behind Nerdy About Nature, so when we were thinking about making this video resource, teaming up with him to co-create tutorial videos on how to measure trees seemed like the perfect idea.
Two young men wearing masks looking at a camera screen with the ocean in the background.

Student Innovation Contest: 2021 winners

Raincoast Conservation Foundation partnered with Take A Stand: Youth for Conservation to create the 2021 Student Innovation Challenge. Here are the winners.
Group of people walking along a mossy coastline with the ocean in the background.

Raincoast welcomes five summer team members!

We are very pleased to have five passionate students joining our team for the summer. Over the summer, these five youth will contribute to several of our programs, while developing their own skills.
Two grizzly bears looking into the distance while standing in an estuary.

2021: Our impact so far

We are already halfway through the year, and I wanted to share with you some of Raincoast’s achievements thus far. This progress relies on donors like you and the entire team at Raincoast sincerely appreciates your support. Here’s a snapshot of Raincoast’s efforts over the past six months.