Politics delayed clean up of Manolis L oil, committee says

A citizen's groupadvocating for the clean up of the sunken Manolis L saysfront-line Canadian Coast Guard employees responsible for monitoring the leaky shiphave agreed for yearsthat the oil needed to be removed.

TheManolisL Citizens Response Committee met with the Canadian Coast Guard in Gander on Friday to review the technical assessment of the ship.

• Canadian Coast Guard recommends removal of oil from Manolis L

• Going down: Divers assess leaking Manolis L shipwreck

"The front-line people, they've always supported what we said that the oil has to come out," said Carolyn Parsons, co-chair of the committee.

"Anybody that I talked to who works with the Coast Guard agreedwith that. The issue was more with the department,DFO, the political players."

The Manolis L currently sits on the ocean floor in Notre Dame Bay after it sank in 1985.

Earlier this month, the Canadian Coast Guard recommended the oil be removed from the sunken Manolis L after a technical assessment found there's still113,000-150,000 litresleft inside the ship.

We feel comfortable that things are operating in a heathy (way) and that there's a good mechanism in place.- Carolyn Parsons

Parsons said "it didn't make any sense" that front-line employees were saying they wanted to clean up the oil but "higher ups" weren't taking action.

"They didn't want to know there was oil leaking," she said. "That was definitely the feeling in the beginning."

She said the attitudehaschanged since the last federal election.

"In the last year there's definitely been a shift in how that's looking," Parsons told CBC News.

"It is coming to a place now where we feel comfortable that things are operating in a heathy (way) and that there's a good mechanism in place with the Coast Guard and with DFO."

Wait and see, says MP

At an unrelated Coast Guard announcement on Friday, Newfoundland and Labrador MP Seamus O'Regan says he wasn't surewhy it took so long for the Coast Guard to call for full clearing.

But he did say residents in the area could be expecting an announcement from the federal government soon.

"Watch this space," he said.

"We're still dealing with the full impact of this report, but as I said the Coast Guard is excited to deal with it. And the government is committed, and you'll see further announcements on this coming up."

Won't rest until oil removed

Parsons said the committee is thrilled to hear the commitment to remove the oil but won't stop its push to get it removed.

"We won't stop until every last drop of oil is out of there."

Parsons is hoping for a fundingannouncementfor the removal in 2017.

There's no estimated cost for the removal of the oil.

The Coast Guard said it hopes to be prepared to remove the oil next year, but called that timeline ambitious.

Parsons said the Coast Guard has been open with her groupthroughout the process and always willing to discuss the topic.

"We're very grateful for that because we should be working with government departments, not battling with them. So it's good to see that happening."