STRICTER REGULATIONS
have prompted a local oil spill
clean-up company to expand
its operations.

By lan Noble
News Reporter

Burrard Clean Operations,
responding {‘o changes in the
_ Canada Shipping Act, has applied
for designation as a “response orga-
nization”, which would enable the
company to respond to spills of up
to 10,000 tons in B.C. waters.

That, said Burrard president and
general manager Martyn Green, “is
a fairly substantial spill.”

Burrard Clean expects fo receive
the upgrade in June or July and will
likely be the only oil spill cleanup
company on the west coast to apply
for the upgrade, he said.

Green added such an upgrade
would broaden his company’s
potential business horizons “signifi-
cantly.”

Burrard Clean Operations is now
part of a network of response orga-
nizations created to respond to spills
on Canada's east and west coasts,
and the Great Lakes.

The new network is the result of

recommendations made after feder-
al, provincial and industry studies
on tanker spills and marine spill-
response capability.
Burrard Clean is a division of
Western Canada Marine Response
Corporation, the organization
responsible for responding to ail
spills on the west coast.

Under revisions to the Canada
Shipping Act, all owners of tankers,
dry cargo vessels and designated oil
handling facilities must have
response capability to cover their
operations.

Green said Burrard is busy trying
to sign up the 1,500 such vessels in
B.C. as clients.

A Burrard Clean news release
said the company was_ initially
formed in 1976 as a cooperative of
four crude oi] companies and a pipe-
line firm.

The company -originally geared

itself toward cleaning up petroleum —

spills in and around Vancouver,

But to meet the requirements of
1

bigger spills, the company now has
$20 million worth of equipment,
including skimmers, booms and
barges, said Green.

Burrard has beefed up its fleet to

ery. "ey
4

eyes ex

Burrard Clean Operations goes after big

15 vessels. Most of them are located
in) Vancouver, with others on
Vancouver tsland “to provide sup-
port to any further spill incidents on
the Canadian West Coast.” said
Burrard.

The company can even put satel-

NEWS phato Mike Wakofield

BURRARD CLEAN Operations president Martyn Green is help-
ing propel his oif-spill cleanup company through a growth spurt
that will see the local firm operating along the B.C. coast.

.
spills
lite communications in plice to
coordinate containment and recov-
ery operations, Green said.

Green has been involved: in oil
clean up for the past 25 years, Fie's
attended some of the famous spills,
including the Exxon Valdez disaster,

1995 — North Shore News ~ 31

and some of the biggest ones,
including 1978's Amoco Cadiz.
spill.

That spill occurred off France
and resulted in 68.7 million gallons
of oil spilled. It was the sixth-worst
spill in history,

Burrard Clean has attended
about 440° spills, including the
Exxon Valdez,

MASTERING THE SEAS
FOR INDUSTRY

The BCR Group of Companies s
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We've been operating on the
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What began as a stretch of track
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And, there are some
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our deep-sea, multi-
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B.C.'S INTEGRATED TRANSPORTATION
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a,