Barge owner says gas line may have ruptured on beached barge on Haida Gwaii

Barge owner says gas line may have ruptured on beached barge on Haida Gwaii
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CBC: A fishing lodge barge drifted onto a rocky beach on an island in Haida Gwaii Saturday night. (Mike Meegan/Facebook)

CBC: A fishing lodge barge drifted onto a rocky beach on an island in Haida Gwaii Saturday night. (Mike Meegan/Facebook)

A specialized contractor certified to handle hazardous materials is expected on site Monday at a Haida Gwaii beach where a fishing barge ran aground on the weekend.

The company HaiCo owns the Westcoast Resorts’ (WCR) Hippa barge, a luxury fishing lodge barge.

In a statement Monday morning, HaiCo said a gas line may have ruptured when the barge ran aground after it came loose from its anchor buoy at Alliford Bay around 9 p.m. Saturday night.

HaiCo says no diesel leaked from the barge and there is no impact to the marine environment at this time, but there is a concern with changing tides.

One crew member was on board when the barge drifted to an area west of the Village of Queen Charlotte over a few hours before becoming beached.

The location of Village of Queen Charlotte on Haida Gwaii (Google)

The location of Village of Queen Charlotte on Haida Gwaii (Google)

HaiCo says the fuel line rupture and subsequent vapours resulted in a danger to staff and other agencies onsite.

An exclusion zone established by the Coast Guard is maintained, although assessments have been stopped because of dangers from the rupture.

A skimming vessel was brought in from Prince Rupert as a precaution.

Skimming vessels are designed to remove oil floating on water and are equipped with boom systems that are deployed for recovery operations.

The company says the hull of the barge is beached and there is no danger of it sinking.

HaiCo says it is not known at this time how the barge came free from its anchor.

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