Oil resurfaces as Manolis L. cofferdam replaced
Another oil sheen was spotted in the waters near the sunken vessel Manolis L. in Notre Dame Bay on Saturday.
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans said a Canadian Coast Guard Environmental Response team was removing oil and replacing the cofferdam, which catches leaking oil, when oil escaped the old coffer.
According to DFO, crew members recovered the oil that was spilled on Saturday.
Bob Grant, senior environmental response officer, told CBC that slight surface swells caused a bit of a problem during the removal of the cofferdam on Saturday.
"The cofferdam was getting like this plunging effect. Like a bounce, starting to bounce a little," Grant explained, "As it was being raised to the surface, there was some small unknown quantities that were being released."
"When it got to the surface, we were still having the same effect there so when the divers were in the water to start the offloading process, it was really deemed unsafe for the divers to be there."
Grant said the decision was then made to transfer the cofferdam over to a waiting tray aboard the coast guard vessel, where he said it was successfully removed from the water without any further release of oil.
The next day, Grant said there was another report of an oil sheen in the area, but crews couldn't find enough oil to recover.
"They reported back that there was light, patchy sheening observed. They attempted to recover. But it was very light."
On Monday morning, coast guard crews returned to the area for another assessment, at which time Grant said they found no sign of any oil on the surface of the water at that time.
The Manolis L. sank after running aground in January 1985 on Blow Hard Rock near Change Islands. It was carrying more than 500 tonnes of fuel oil and diesel at the time.