Environmental Response

Response

The Canadian Coast Guard is the lead federal agency for all ship-source spills of oil or other noxious substance into the marine environment in waters under Canadian jurisdiction.

Where the polluter has been identified and is willing and able to respond, the Canadian Coast Guard will advise the polluter of its responsibilities and, once satisfied with the polluter’s intentions / plans, assume the role as the Federal Monitoring Officer (FMO) and monitor the polluter’s response and provide advice and guidance as required. However, in those cases where the polluter is unknown, unwilling or unable to respond, the Canadian Coast Guard will assume the overall management of the incident as On-Scene Commander (OSC) and ensure an appropriate response. When the Canadian Coast Guard has assumed the role of On-Scene Commander and is required to respond to a marine pollution incident, the Canadian Coast Guard has the people, resources and expertise to respond to a marine pollution incident.

If required, the National Response Team can be activated to augment the monitoring or response operations to a marine pollution incident or natural or manmade disaster in any part of the country or the world.

Once monitoring or response operations to an incident have terminated, the Canadian Coast Guard will initiate cost recovery procedures.

Offshore Operations

In an offshore environment the Canadian Coast Guard uses its own vessels or vessels of opportunity with advanced sweep systems to contain and recover spilled oil.

Equipment used in offshore operations is standardized across the country. This reduces training requirements and provides flexibility when cascading equipment domestically or internationally.

Nearshore Recovery

In Canada, nearshore recovery requires a variety of equipment due to the many different operating environments encountered in each region.

It is of the utmost importance to prevent the oil from impacting environmentally sensitive areas.

The Canadian Coast Guard maintains a large stockpile of booms, skimmers, storage devices, boats, barges, pumps, and ancillary equipment in sites across the country to contain and recover spills in nearshore environments.

Shoreline Cleanup

The greatest environmental damage occurs when the oil impacts the shoreline. Various techniques can be used in cleaning up shoreline environments. Techniques include high pressure washing, steam washing, physical removal of oil by shovels or graders or the use of vacuum systems. In some cases, the oil is left to degrade naturally since cleanup operations could be more harmful to the shoreline environment, than the oil itself.

International Cooperation

Follow the link for more information on CCG's Environmental Response International Cooperation.

The Canadian Coast Guard may also hire private contractors, like Response Organizations or other private companies, to conduct spill response operations.

Resource Agency

In those cases where the Canadian Coast Guard is not the lead agency for an incident (ie. natural or manmade disaster), the Canadian Coast Guard may provide human and/or material resources to a response operation conducted by another federal, provincial or municipal department.