Search

The 1970 SS Arrow incident in Chedabucto Bay, Nova Scotia (NS) was a milestone event in Canada's oil spill response history and has been used by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) for ongoing research for almost 50 years. In August of 2015, the remaining sunken section of the SS ARROW released Bunker C oil from its tanks and some sections of shorelines impacted in 1970 were affected once again. The Canadian Coast Guard led the 2015 response effort, which included Shoreline Clean-Up and Assessment Technique (SCAT) surveys, to evaluate the contamination on the shorelines of Chedabucto Bay. This poster presents an overview of the 1970 event as well as the shoreline contamination resulting from the 2015 release from the SS Arrow. It summarizes the SCAT survey results and the operational response of the ECCC's National Environmental Emergencies Centre (NEEC) in support of the incident.

Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) has developed a series of field guides to provide technical support tools for decisions regarding the evaluation of freshwater and marine shorelines and treatment options during an oil spill response. The new Freshwater Shoreline Response Guide is aligned with and complements the most recent editions of the ECCC Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) Manual (ECCC, 2018) and the ECCC Field Guide to Oil Spill Response on Marine Shorelines (ECCC, 2016). ECCC is engaged to provide science-based information to the spill response community and develop an expertise in spill response. The purpose of the Freshwater Shoreline Response Field Guide is to provide advice and guidance on the protection and treatment of freshwater shorelines threatened or affected by an oil spill. This Field Guide focuses on conventional tactics normally available to responders and appropriate for freshwater shoreline environments. The content of the Field Guide is organized to describe key elements of: Health and safety for field teamsNet Environmental Benefit Analysis (NEBA) / Spill Impact Mitigation Assessment (SIMA)Freshwater environmentsOil fate and behaviour in freshwater environmentsResponse – planning, treatment, special topics, and completion and monitoring