Question Period Note: Canadian Coast Guard Environmental Response

The Canadian Coast Guard’s response to the MV Europe oil spill in English Bay, British Columbia

• The Canadian Coast Guard is responsible for ensuring an appropriate response to marine pollution incidents in Canadian waters, such as the MV Europe spill.
• This work is done collaboratively with Indigenous and coastal communities, municipalities, industry and federal partners.

• The Coast Guard Environmental Response (ER) program is the operational arm of the Government of Canada responsible for ensuring an appropriate response to ship-source and mystery-source marine pollution incidents in Canadian waters.
• The scope of the Coast Guard’s response is not limited to oil spills, but covers the more broadly defined “Marine Pollution Incidents”, as written in the Canada Shipping Act. This includes hazardous and noxious substances spills, or spills of substances that would degrade or alter the quality of waters to an extent that is detrimental to their use by humans.
• The ER program provides a system (policies, procedures, personnel, and equipment) to command responses to marine pollution incidents occurring in Canadian waters with an objective to minimize the risk to public safety, environmental, and economic impacts.
• The ER program provides oversight of the polluter’s actions, spill preparedness (equipment, planning, training, exercising) and spill response (pollution assessment, mitigation, containment and collection) as well as spill incident management. The ER program integrates science and local Indigenous knowledge into preparedness, response, planning and incident management activities.
• Determination of the lead agency for spills in Canada is based on the source, not location of the spill.
• The Coast Guard is responsible for ship-source spills, mystery-source spills, and spills at oil handling facilities during loading and unloading of vessels.
• In the event that the polluter is unknown, unwilling, or unable to respond to their pollution event, the Coast Guard will ensure an appropriate response is achieved by contracting resources or responding themselves.
• There are trained ER personnel in all Coast Guard regions with staffed facilities shore-side with pollution countermeasures equipment. There are approximately 80 response equipment depot sites strategically located across Canada and on Coast Guard vessels. Heavier equipment such as pollution response vessels, skimmers and sweep systems are at the Coast Guard bases across Canada.
• In addition, an industry funded pollution response capacity exists whereby shipowners pay for the cost of preparedness for the environmental risk posed by their operations. This funding supports the capacity of the Response Organizations. This preparedness is established and maintained by certified Response Organizations who can be contracted by polluters to provide oil spill response services in the event of a marine pollution incident.
• Canada has adopted the "polluter pay principle" in legislation and requires polluters to pay for the cost of cleanup and pollution damage. The Coast Guard’s costs with respect to the response may also be recovered from the polluter.
• On January 21, 2023, a commercial flight detected a pollution discharge emanating from the China Shipping Container Lines-owned container vessel M/V Europe in English Bay, Vancouver, B.C.;
• Coast Guard personnel were tasked to conduct an assessment and confirmed a discharge of oil emanating from the M/V Europe;
• Coast Guard activated the Greater Vancouver Integrated Response Plan, established an Incident Command Post and engaged the polluter, First Nations, federal, provincial and municipal partners in Unified Command to manage the incident and develop incident objectives;
• The vessel’s owner contracted Western Canada Marine Response Corporation, the Transport Canada certified Response Organization on the West Coast, to conduct on-water response operations to contain the oil spill and recover any pollution outside of the containment area. Coast Guard deployed personnel on-scene to monitor recovery operations and to lead the coordination of the spill response with all partners.
• On January 22, 2023, Transport Canada boarded the vessel to conduct inspections.
• All recoverable oil was removed from the containment area around the vessel.
• Subsequent surveillance flights detected no oil pollution within five nautical miles of the incident area and no less than 60 litres of oil was detected as discharged from the vessel.
• Transport Canada concluded its inspection of the vessel and deemed it no longer a pollution threat, however the vessel has been detained until it rectifies several deficiencies found during Transport Canada’s inspection.
• The polluter claimed that the cause of the discharge was related to oily water that was collected on a hatch cover in the cargo hold during a fire drill, which did not go through and oily-water separator. Transport Canada is investigating this claim.
• The vessel will be allowed to berth at Vancouver and unload its cargo, but may not leave Canada until its deficiencies have been addressed.
• On January 23, 2023, the Coast Guard led shoreline assessments with its partners to determine if any recovery activities are required.
• Pursuant to the Marine Liability Act, the polluter is liable for all costs related to response and pollution damage, including the Coast Guard’s response costs.

If pressed on oil spilled in English Bay
• In response to the oil spilled in English Bay, the Canadian Coast Guard established a Unified Command structure to manage the response and minimize pollution damage caused by the spill.
• Thanks to Oceans Protection Plan investments, federal, provincial, local and Indigenous partners were mobilized in response to this spill.
• The ship owner is aware of their obligations regarding the costs of this cleanup.