Rocky Mountain Environmental Ltd.

Rocky Mountain Environmental Ltd. We supply industry and government with the necessary spill kits and spill response products to effec

We supply industry and government with the necessary spill kits and spill response products to effectively deal with hazardous materials incident.

Another load of Spill Kits and containment going out to a well prepared contractor.
11/17/2023

Another load of Spill Kits and containment going out to a well prepared contractor.

The team stayed late to put together 75 spill kits for immediate hotshot delivery to a valued contractor in Sparwood, BC...
09/03/2023

The team stayed late to put together 75 spill kits for immediate hotshot delivery to a valued contractor in Sparwood, BC.
A very grateful thank you to the great team here at Rocky Mountain Environmental!

A truckload of Geo-textile product headed for the pipe line project!
05/04/2023

A truckload of Geo-textile product headed for the pipe line project!

Another truck load of Rocky Mountain Spill kits going out to the pipeline construction sites.
11/25/2022

Another truck load of Rocky Mountain Spill kits going out to the pipeline construction sites.

10/13/2022

Check out our new website!

In May of 1996, weary of others dictating my course in life and with a few sage words from my favorite and respected unc...
05/18/2021

In May of 1996, weary of others dictating my course in life and with a few sage words from my favorite and respected uncle Don, We stepped up and started Rocky Mountain Environmental Ltd. in my carport on #2 Road in Richmond. With lots of help(advice, cheers and a little money from family and the best of friends) an understanding, patient and wonderful wife, we weathered more than a few storms. Now to May 2021 we are based in a 9000 s.f facility in Tilbury Business Park, Delta. We celebrated our 25th anniversary May 6th. We have successfully sold our products and expertise to every Province and Territory in Canada, 48 states in the USA, and to Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia , Korea, Australia, Russia, Cayman Island and Ecuador. We have supplied every major spill in Canada and elsewhere(read BP, Deep Water Horizon in Gulf of Mexico 2010) This would not have been possible without some very outstanding employees(I call them friends) whose dedication is a marvel to witness every day. To them I say a heartfelt thank you!

More pics of the Bligh Island Shipwreck leak.
03/11/2021

More pics of the Bligh Island Shipwreck leak.

SITREPIncident: BLIGH ISLAND SHIPWRECKIncident Start Date DECEMBER 3, 2020Location: BLIGH ISLAND, VANCOUVER ISLANDSit...
02/11/2021

SITREP
Incident: BLIGH ISLAND SHIPWRECK
Incident Start Date DECEMBER 3, 2020
Location: BLIGH ISLAND, VANCOUVER ISLAND

Situational Overview
As a result of a number of sightings of sheening and oiling in the vicinity of Bligh Island / Zuciarte Channel, CCG confirms that the shipwreck of the M/V Schiedyk, a 483 ft bulk carrier that sank in 1968, has started to release oil.

The situation escalated over (Dec 4-6), and heavy oil was observed on the water and staining rocks on the shoreline. As a result the Canadian Coast Guard (CCG) contracted the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC) to deploy to the area. CCG has established an Incident Command System (ICS) for this incident, with CCG as the Federal Incident Commander in this Unified command alongside Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy and the Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation.

Remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operations report that the product is seeping from more than one location and that vessel is resting hull-up in 350–400 ft (100 –120 m) of water. M/V Schiedyk was carrying approximately 1000 tons of grain and pulp when it grounded.

Fuel samples have been sent to Environment and Climate Change Canada’s Pacific Environmental Science Center (PESC) and Emergencies Science and Technology Section (ESTS) laboratories from forensic chemistry and fate and behavior modeling. Oil sampling test results indicate oil is similar to historical Bunker “C” type — upwelling is estimated at 1–4 L per hour.

Daily preventative actions are being taken to contain the immediate threats and prevent long-term damage to the environment.

The incident public website is updated regularly.

CCG has on going scheduled Transport Canada National Aerial Surveillance Program (NASP) over flights of the area. Drone operations continue.

Large amount off-shore boom has been placed to assist with heavy fuel oil containment. South of the wreck site deflection booming has been set up.

Four Geographic Response Strategy (GRS) booms have been implemented across ecologically sensitive areas.

DFO Marine Mammal Rescue and Focus Wildlife are on site and have been monitoring and assessing wildlife around Nootka Sound. Impacts to wildlife have been minimal to date.

Two Shoreline Clean-up Assessment Teams (S**T) were deployed and have surveyed 100km of shoreline near the wreck site.
Incident Priorities

Maximize response staff integration across organizations.
Ensure safety of responders and the public.
Ensure a unified response effort to include Federal, Provincial, and Indigenous priorities.
Minimize impacts to ecological, socio-economic, and cultural areas.
Ensure fluid and efficient incident communication is easily accessible

Agencies Involved (either in person or remote)

Unified Command – Canadian Coast Guard, Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation, BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
Canadian Coast Guard Environmental Response and other programs
National Environmental Emergencies Centre, Environment and Climate Change Canada
BC Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy
Western Canada Marine Response Corporation
Ehattesaht Fisheries
Nuu Chah Nulth Tribal Council
Mowachaht/Muchalaht First Nation
Hesquiaht First Nation
BC Parks
BC Wildfire Service
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Canadian Wildlife Service
Grieg Seafood

Incident Management Team (IMT): UNIT UPDATES

OPERATIONS

Summary: In-field operations to meet incident objectives are using a combination of floating, sub-sea and aerial resources. These resources provide direction daily, and conduct assignments like Aerial Observation, Protection Booming, Wreck Assessment, surface oil collection and recovery, as well as marine mammal and wildlife assessment. Operations staff are working out of Nootka Sound and Gold River, and following integrated Safety, Communications, and Logistical plans. Planning for these tactical operations is risk-based, and determined through a planning cycle. Equipment such as storage tanks/bins, consumable like Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and sorbents, as well as additional equipment for contingencies, are stored at the incident staging area near Gold River. Weather, remoteness, and a consistent upwelling of oil continue to challenge in-field operations.

Active marine oil slick near Nootka Sound tied to historic 1968 Bligh Island shipwreckSea otter, heron treated as team b...
12/17/2020

Active marine oil slick near Nootka Sound tied to historic 1968 Bligh Island shipwreck

Sea otter, heron treated as team battles active oil slick near Nootka Sound
Animals found covered in oil, response team looking at rehabilitation options

Canadian Coast Guard and First Nations continue to contain the active oil slick caused by the historic Bligh Island shipwreck leak off Northwest Vancouver Island.

In an update, the Unified Command – the spill response team consisting of federal, provincial and First Nations members – said that despite the minimal quantity of oil on the water, there has been some negative impact to the marine environment and wildlife in the area near Nootka Sound.

“Sadly one sea otter and one blue heron have become oiled. Crews are attempting to capture the otter to transport it to the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rehabilitation Centre,” the Unified Command said in a statement, Tuesday.

A deceased sea otter was also found in the area and a necropsy is being performed to determine if it died due to oil exposure.

Active marine oil slick near Nootka Sound tied to historic 1968 Bligh Island shipwreck

The team also said there is potential for more wildlife to be impacted due to the slick. It has developed a wildlife response plan to work towards the on-site rehabilitation of animals.

“We have a team of wildlife and marine mammal experts who are focused on keeping wildlife away from the shipwreck site, and capturing and rehabilitating any impacted animals.”

Fish farms located north of the site are not affected, so far, as ocean currents are moving the oil to the south and southeast. In the event the direction changes, the team has said it has an additional 10,000-foot curtain boom that can be deployed to protect the fish farms.

Some shorelines close to the shipwreck were impacted by oil and a shoreline clean-up assessment team is preparing to clean the impacted sites.

On Dec. 11 – after a months-long investigation by the Canadian Coast Guard – an oil spill near the east end of Bligh Island was found to be originating from the cargo ship MV Schiedyk that sunk in 1968, shortly after departing from Gold River.

Since then a 40-person team has been on-site responding to the spill along with six marine pollution response vehicles (with two more expected to arrive soon).

Sixteen thousand feet of boom have been deployed to protect areas of ecological, socio-economic and cultural sensitivity. A continuous and slow discharge of oil pollution is coming from the MV Schiedyk and the team does not anticipate a sudden larger release of fuel.

“Crews and assets are on scene recovering the oil as it floats to the surface using a tandem sweep between two vessels. Curtain boom and sorbent boom is held between the two vessels as they sweep the water. We will also be deploying a Harbour Buster II to capture oil product that is being moved by the ocean current.”

The amount of oil released has yet to be determined as what has been recovered is mixed with salt water making it difficult to estimate.

The cost to remediate the pollution risk caused by MV Schiedyk has also not been determined yet by the Unified Command. It will release further details as they become available.

VICTORIA -- Federal officials say emergency response crews will work through the holidays to try to contain an oil spill...
12/17/2020

VICTORIA -- Federal officials say emergency response crews will work through the holidays to try to contain an oil spill from a historic shipwreck off the west coast of Vancouver Island.

The coast guard says it is still working to confirm just how much fuel oil was on board the Holland America freighter when it ran aground in Nootka Sound and sank in January 1968.

The 150-metre MV Schiedyk was carrying thousands of tonnes of wood pulp and barley bound for Portland, Ore. when it went down near Bligh Island. All 34 sailors aboard the ship survived the wreck.

Related Stories
'A very serious situation': Coast guard scrambles to clean spill from sunken freighter
Mariners and aviators in the remote area say small slicks of bubbling oil have long been apparent on the water’s surface, but last month those trickles turned into a plume of oil stretching upwards of two kilometres.

The coast guard says it first received reports of an oil sheen near the island in September but investigators couldn’t locate its source until early this month.

On Tuesday, officials said there are approximately 30 to 50 litres of oil on the water’s surface at any given time.

Six pollution response vessels and 40 personnel are currently on scene, with two more expected to arrive over the coming weeks. Crews have deployed two oil skimmers and nearly 5,000 metres of containment booms around the site to contain what DFO officials say is a “continuous but slow discharge of oil pollution.”

More than 40 additional pollution response workers from federal, provincial and local governments are managing the spill response on shore.

Federal officials said Tuesday they don’t know how much oil has been collected to date. Samples of the oil have been sent to a lab for identification and officials say both bunker fuel and diesel were on board when the vessel sank.

“Photo and video documentation from the ROV (remotely operated underwater vehicle) shows that the ship sustained significant damage when it sank in 1968,” said wreck co-ordination spokesperson Kiri Westnedge. “The upwell of oil is coming from several locations in the vessel.”

Westnedge says a dead sea otter was found near the spill site and a necropsy will determine whether it died due to exposure to the oil.

Another sea otter was found alive but covered in oil. Crews were attempting to capture the otter Tuesday to transport it to the Vancouver Aquarium’s Marine Mammal Rescue Center. A blue heron was also found coated in oil.

“There is potential for more wildlife to be impacted,” Westnedge said. “We have a team of wildlife and marine mammal experts who are focused on keeping wildlife away from the shipwreck site, and capturing and rehabilitating any impacted animals.”

Officials don’t have a cost estimate on the cleanup yet. Transport Canada says that while Holland America still technically owns the vessel, the company will not be liable for cleanup costs through a federal ship-source pollution fund due to the statute of limitations set out under the Maritime Liability Act.

“Under international maritime law, the ownership of a vessel, even if sunk, remains unchanged,” said Transport Canada spokesperson Cybelle Morin. “In this case, the ship-source oil pollution fund cannot be used to cover the cost as it falls outside the time frame.”

Holland America did not respond to multiple requests for comment on this story.

12/11/2020

Thinking the Unthinkable: How Prepared is Canada for an Oil Spill?
Tue, December 8, 2020, 8:51 AM PST·2 min read
Despite a drop in marine oil spills worldwide due to improved safety measures, the Clear Seas Centre for Responsible Marine Shipping’s (Clear Seas) latest public opinion survey shows that spills in Canadian waters from tankers and ship fuel tops the concerns of Canadians. Catastrophic events such as the recent oil spill off the coast of Mauritius also raise questions about Canada’s ability to clean up oil spills and how to protect the marine environment and coastal communities.
To answer these questions, a new webpage explaining what happens when oil spills from a ship in Canadian waters has been released by Clear Seas. This first-of-its-kind webpage provides a comprehensive inventory of the resources in place to respond to a marine oil spill. It also breaks down the response sequence and the organizations that are involved in and responsible for containing and cleaning up a spill.
"First and foremost, while oil spills can and do happen in Canada, they are extremely rare. And fortunately, Canada has an extensive and proactive system in place that will help the clean-up and minimize damage from a spill," says Paul Blomerus, Executive Director of Clear Seas. The spills that do happen in Canada are mostly small (67% of ship-source spills between 2003-2012 were under 1,000 litres), originating from fishing boats and pleasure craft or classed as mystery spills.
Blomerus says that given the concerns Canadians have around shipping oil and gas by ship expressed in the latest Clear Seas survey, the page will be a timely addition to the public policy discussion around oil spill response and setting response standards.
ABOUT CLEAR SEAS
Clear Seas is a not-for-profit independent research centre that provides impartial information on marine shipping in Canada to policy makers and the public. The organization’s research agenda is defined internally in response to current issues, reviewed by a research advisory committee, and approved by a board of directors. Reports and findings are available at clearseas.org
Contacts
Media:
Edward Downing
Director of Communications
Tel.: (604) 408-1648 ext. 106 or cell (604) 817-3058
[email protected]

Oil spill response base taking shape on Saanich PeninsulaEnhanced base with elements in North Saanich and Sidney to be f...
11/30/2020

Oil spill response base taking shape on Saanich Peninsula
Enhanced base with elements in North Saanich and Sidney to be fully operational in fall 2022
• WOLF DEPNER

Plans call for the enhanced base to be fully operational by the late fall of 2022 with eight vessels and about 24 staff available 24-7. Four vessels are already operating out of the marina.

Funded by the oil and marine industry and subject to federal oversight, WCMRC operates under federal law requiring polluters to pay.

The Sidney-North Saanich base will be one of several new bases along tanker shipping routes to and from Vancouver as the WCMRC is also building bases in Nanaimo, Port Alberni, Ucluelet, Beecher Bay, Vancouver Harbour and Fraser River.
The expansion valued at $150 million (with $4 million coming to Saanich Peninsula) will see WCMRC almost double its fleet from 44 vessels to 90 and its employees to 200.
WCMRC chose Sidney and North Saanich for “very strategic reasons” with all bases stationed in locations based on the risk of spills.
“There are spots on those shipping lanes that are at slightly higher risk,” “For example, where the shipping lanes intersect with ferry traffic, where they have to make certain turns. Those are areas that we have looked at. When you look at risk, you also look at the consequence side of it as well. So if you are looking at the Sidney base, it’s right where the Gulf Islands are. So we want to be able to respond very quickly to any incidents in the Gulf Islands.”


This map shows the enhanced marine spill response bases operated by Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC) (WCMRC/Submitted)

Address

1/7624 Hume Avenue
Delta, BC
V4G1C5

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 4:30pm
Tuesday 8am - 4:30pm
Wednesday 8am - 4:30pm
Thursday 8am - 4:30pm
Friday 8am - 4:30pm
Saturday 9am - 5pm
Sunday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+1 604-275-1346

Website

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