Officials pleased with cleanup of B.C. oil spill

The Canadian Coast Guard says crews have collected almost two-thirds of the oil spilled by a freighter on Friday north of Vancouver by Squamish.

Government officials say the cleanup operation has gone extremely well so far, but warn much still remains in order to finish the job.

Burrard Clean has been hired by the company involved in the accident to cleanup the areas around the ship and estuary, where a kilometre-long slick lay on the weekend.

Coast Guard spokesman Don Rodden says the operation, which has cost nearly $100,000 so far, has gone very smoothly.

Crews are concentrating on containing the oil that has seeped into the marshes of the Squamish Estuary, trying to make sure the oil does not go farther into the marsh, or move and contaminate other areas of the B.C. estuary.

A complete cleanup may take several months.

"Still looking at a week to get the oil to be not moving any more," said Environment Department spokesman Brian Clark. "After that it's a bit more, the estuary marsh may take longer to recover, depending on the choice to clean it up."

Migration beginning

Despite the apparent success of the cleanup, Squamish Environmental Conservation Society president Meg Fellowes has some concerns.

"We're just on the cusp of the fall migration," she said. "So there's a lot of birds that are going to bemoving through this area over the nextcouple ofweeks, so that's got to be a concern because they forage on the mudflats and the sedges, that kind of thing."

Some wildlife has already been affected, and officials say several oiled Canada geese and mallards have been found. However, they have not been collected because no cleaning station has been set up to help them.

A spokesperson says they will catch the birds when they start getting sick.

There is no word on when the area can be re-opened to recreational activities.