With recent heavy rains, Township crews are continuing to monitor West Bay for any sign of oil from a residential oil tank leak which was first reported to the Township on January 3, 2017.
Additional absorbent pads and/or booms will be placed near the marina outfall if oil is detected.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment is working with the resident at the address of the oil leak to determine the extent of soil contamination from the leak, and to create a mitigation plan.
Esquimalt Public Works has been providing regular updates to both the Ministry of Environment and Environment Canada on monitoring and clean-up efforts.
Crews continue to monitor the outfall daily, and replace booms and pads as required.
Background and timeline:
- Esquimalt Public Works first received notification about the oil spill in the West Bay Marina on January 3, 2017 at approximately 10:30 a.m.
- Township crews were on-site within the hour working on containment and investigating the source of the oil.
- No visible oil or residuals were observed coming out of the drain outfall at the time of the initial response. A small quantity of oil was observed floating in the Marina and small amounts were observed frozen in the ice.
- A containment boom and absorbent pads were placed around the outfall to contain any additional oil potentially making its way to the outfall from upstream.
- The investigation into the source of the oil led staff to a house on Lyall Street where it was determined that an above ground oil tank had been leaking. The owner had replaced the tank on January 2nd but approximately 700 liters had drained into the soil prior to discovering the leak.
- On January 5th, an oil separator structure was installed at the drain connection at the resident’s property line and absorbent material was added. No significant oil has been observed in the oil separator structure to date.
- As ice thawed at the marina, more oil was noticed and Township crews worked with the Marina maintenance staff to install booms to divide the area into smaller manageable areas in order to utilize absorbent pads to remove oil from inside the containment areas.
For information on home heating oil tanks and alternatives, please click here.
For more information, please contact:
Jeff Miller, Director of Engineering and Public Works
Tel: 250-414-7108