Chilliwack Progress, May 10, 2012 by Black Press Media Group

The Chilliwack Progress Thursday, May 10, 2012

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Pipeline: Preparing for the worst PIPELINE from p14 WCMRC, which is primarily funded by four major oil companies (Imperial Oil, Shell Canada, Chevron and Suncor) and pipeline operator Kinder Morgan, responds to an average 20 spills a year, he said. They range from small gasoline spills from power boats and incidents involving canola oil, to the 100,000-litre spill resulting from the 2007 rupture of Kinder Morgan’s pipeline in North Burnaby, the largest Canadian incident it has responded to on the west coast. As for how much oil is typically recovered, Turnbull said it’s not 100 per cent, due to a number of variables including evaporation. “Recovery is only part of an overall strategy. Protection and mitigation of damage to resources is a priority.” Generally, the response involves containing spills with booms and collecting the oil using skimmers. If the responsible party requests a wildlife rescue response, as Kinder Morgan did in 2007, WCMRC may manage it or hire a professional organization to work within the response command structure. Wildlife left out of the equation

The problem is, not all responsible parties choose to respond to oiled wildlife, and there are no laws forcing them to do so, said Coleen Doucette, vice-president

of the Oiled Wildlife Society of B.C. “The way policies are written in Canada, wildlife is not part of the environment, no one has to clean up wildlife.” But left out in the wild, not only will oiled birds, otters, seals and other wildlife die, they’ll likely be eaten by predators, continuing to contaminate the environment long after the spill is over, noted Doucette, who is also chair of the animal care committee at Wildlife Rescue Association of B.C. Doucette worked for Focus Wildlife, one of only three professional wildlife rescue companies in North America, during cleanup of the 2007 spill in Burnaby. In addition to animals such as seals and otters, waterfowl are perhaps most commonly affected by a spill because the oil removes the natural waterproofing of their feathers, leading to hypothermia. She has helped provide wildlife rescue response in Alberta after spills of bitumen which she says is far worse than conventional crude. “It burns the skin dramatically, much more than a product that’s started to be refined.” Bitumen does more damage and requires more skill to address through a more expensive, specialized and lengthy process, Doucette said. “In a country where there are no regulations, proper funding is

not allotted for wildlife response, it makes it very difficult to now look at needing a more complicated process for rehabilitation when we don’t even have the funding for basic oiled wildlife rehabilitation.” As it is, she estimated wildlife rehabilitation typically costs one to five per cent of overall cleanup costs of an oil spill, if it’s done at all. In addition to a lack of local crews trained in oiled wildlife response, local animal welfare and rescue groups simply don’t have the space needed to accommodate large numbers of contaminated wildlife during rehabilitation, she added. What’s needed is a single large building with good ventilation, and adequate water, electricity and open space. “All those things are really hard to find in one place, oddly enough.” Pipeline track record ‘excellent’

When it comes to economic impact of a major oil spill in Burrard Inlet, the local business community isn’t willing to speculate.

Peter Xotta, vice president of planning and operations for Port Metro Vancouver, Canada’s largest and busiest port, said such a spill hasn’t happened here so it doesn’t have a point of reference to speculate on. The port is involved in moving $75 billion worth of goods annually and is responsible for 129,000 jobs across Canada, 80,000 of those in the Lower Mainland, and $10 billion in GDP, Xotta noted. “So, as relates to our overall mandate, obviously our objective is to make sure all of that activity continues and that there isn’t disruption to any one of those supply chains.” The port has been handling oil tanker traffic for more than 50 years and has some of the most stringent operating practices of vessels around such tankers, he said. When asked if an oil spill would prevent cruise ships and cargo ships from coming and going in Vancouver harbour, Xotta said, “An incident of any kind involves notification

Public Board Meeting

Please jointhe us for the upcoming Pleasecome join and us for next

Fraser Health FraserHealth Health public board meeting Fraser Public Board Meeting Board of Directors Meeting in Langley

Date: Thursday, November 2, 2010 Date: Thursday, Thursday, 5, 2009 When: May 17,November 2012 Time: 2:00 -4:00 4:00 p.m.Public - Public Board Meeting Time: 2:00 –2:00 p.m. Board Meeting 4:00 -p.m. Public Board Meeting 4:00--5:00 5:00p.m. p.m.Q -&Q&A period A period 4:00 –4:00 5:00 p.m. Question & Answer Period Location: Delta Town & Country Inn Centre Location: Pacific Inn Resort & Conference Where: Cascades Casino,Room Coast Hotel & Convention Centre Terrace Cote D’Azur Room Cascades Ballroom 1 6005 Highway 1160 King George17 Hwy, White Rock/Surrey, B.C. 20393Delta, Fraser Highway B.C. Langley, B.C.

You are invited to observe an open meeting the Board of Directors of Fraser You are of invited to observe an open meeting of Health which will include a presentation on health care services the Board of Directors of Fraseroffered Health.in After Langley. the meeting, there will be a question and answer period open to the public. The Question and Answer Period, scheduled to start at 4:00 p.m. will provide an opportunity for the public to ask questions. As the fastest growing Health Authority in the province, we are receiving provincial and Webcast: national attention for how we are redesigning For those unable to attend in person, Fraser Health is also making the meeting care practices and care settings to available via the internet. Questions our willhealth be received during the broadcast. meet the needs of our communities. Visit www.fraserhealth.ca for details. We look forward seeing you Health there! Board This is a valuable opportunity to connect directly withto the Fraser and Executive. Everyone is welcome For to participate. more information, contact us at:

For more information, contact us at: feedback@fraserhealth.ca 604-587-4600

www.fraserhealth.ca feedback@fraserhealth.ca 604-587-4600

Continued: RECORD/ p26

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The 3rd in our ﬁlm series The Way starring Martin Sheen. Thursday, May 10, 2012 at 6:30 pm Cottonwood 4 Cinemas on Luckakuck Way • $5.00 A panel discussion about death and grief will follow the ﬁlm. Panel members include: Ven. Yen Kit Sik (Sister Jessie) Po Lam Buddhist Association; Charlene Neufeld Fraser Health Spiritual Care Practitioner & Lucy Fraser Chilliwack Hospice Society Director of Programs. For more information call 604-795-4660.

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For more information about the ﬁlm visit: http://theway-themovie.com/ﬁlm.php

Visit our other Black Press sites CONTEST RULES Deposit your entry at Chilliwack Progress, 45860 Spadina Avenue, Chilliwack V2P 6H9. The winner will be drawn from the entries received. The draw will be held on Friday, May 25, 5:00 pm. Black Press employees are not eligible. Participants must be at least 18 years of age. Judge’s decision ﬁnal.