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Sunken Second World War vessel again leaking oil in B.C.

Beads of oil emerge from the wreckage of the Brig.-Gen. M.G. Zalinski in 2012. The U.S. army transport ship that sank off B.C.s north coast in 1946.
Beads of oil emerge from the wreckage of the Brig.-Gen. M.G. Zalinski in 2012. The U.S. army transport ship that sank off B.C.s north coast in 1946. Photo by Brian Nadwidny /Vancouver Sun

Oil is leaking again from a sunken United States Army transport vessel, the Brigadier General M.G. Zalinski, in Grenville Channel, about 100 kilometres south of Prince Rupert.

Guardians noticed a “small amount” of oil on the water near the wreck site in September, the Canadian Coast Guard said. It completed an assessment of the site and found three leaks releasing slow but regular drops of oil into the water.

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The federal agency is working with Gitga’at and Gitxaala First Nations who have created an emergency coordination centre with Fisheries and Oceans Canada and the B.C. Ministry of Environment and Climate Change to address the spill, a social media post stated.

The wreck is in a difficult location on the edge of a rocky shelf with challenging currents, tides and weather patterns. The ship is badly deteriorating in some areas. These factors create a safety risk to the coast guard that it must consider in plans to respond to the incident, a spokesperson wrote.

“While the current amount of marine pollution upwelling from the shipwreck is minimal, it is possible the amount could increase. The Canadian Coast Guard is taking action now to assess and contain the immediate threats posed by the wreck to prevent long-term damage to the environment.”

The Zalinski ran aground and sunk in Grenville Channel in 1946 while travelling from Seattle to Alaska. The vessel lies upside down in 27 metres of water and has had multiple small oil leaks.

In 2013, the coast guard led an operation with Gitga’at First Nation to remove 40,000 litres of heavy oil and 319,000 litres of oily water, a spokesperson for the coast guard said. However, during this removal mission, they found a number of fuel tanks had collapsed and, therefore, they could not pump oil out.

“Since 2013, the Canadian Coast Guard has been working in partnership with the Gitga’at and Gitxaala First Nations, keeping a close eye on the wreck and area.”

The leak this fall was just the latest in a series of spills. In 2015, the Coast Guard removed 3,300 litres of oil and three years later, in 2018, it removed 300 litres of oil.

Kaitlyn Bailey is a reporter with the Prince Rupert Northern View