Workers conducting air monitoring near a fishing lodge barge that ran aground last weekend on Lina Island, located on the east coast of Haida Gwaii. Photo courtesy Facebook/HaiCo.
The company that owns a fishing lodge barge grounded on the east coast of Haida Gwaii says booms have been placed around the vessel to protect from contaminants that may be seeping from its hull.
Haida Enterprise Corporation (HaiCo) said in a release an operations team is doing damage assessments of the hull and is trying to determine and control the source of pollution to the marine environment, saying it is “minimal”.
The booms were put in place Wednesday night around the barge that grounded on Lina Island near the village of Queen Charlotte after breaking away from its moorings at Alliford Bay in high winds.
There were concerns about a possible gas line rupture after the Westcoast Resorts’ Hippa Lodge became beached, resulting in potentially explosive vapours.
Air quality assessments are taking place daily and HaiCo says readings indicate the air inside and around the barge remain unsafe.
Crews are using respiratory equipment and air quality monitors and a 300-metre emergency zone has been established by the coast guard, which the public must stay out of.
HaiCo says there are no air quality concerns for the community outside the exclusion zone.
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