The Samson V Maritime Museum has reopened after undergoing repairs in response to an oil spill in the Fraser River.
On July 20, Canadian Coast Guard responders were deployed to New Westminster’s riverfront after a sheen was reported on the Fraser River. They soon determined that the city-owned Samson V Maritime Museum was the source of the spill.
According to the City of New Westminster, the Coast Guard, along with Western Canadian Marine Response Corporation, cleaned up all the oil from the river.
“It has been determined that the fuel leaked from the fuel tanks into the ship's bilge, where it was subsequently pumped outside the vessel,” said a statement from the city following the spill. “The Samson V bilge pumps have been turned off to ensure no more oil is pumped from the ship. The ship's hull is sound and there is no current water ingress. WCMRC have also placed booms around the vessel as a further precaution.”
With repairs and cleaning having been completed on the historic steam-powered sternwheeler, the Samson V Maritime Museum reopened to the public last week.
Rob McCullough, the city’s manager of museums and heritage services, said the city knew there were oil tanks on the vessel but had understood there was no longer any oil in them. He said he’s uncertain how much oil was in the tanks, adding that information will be known once he gets the reports back from the company that remediated the Samson.
“It is difficult to quantify the exact amount of oil that went into the river, but I can say that everything expelled was recaptured and the amount was low enough to be cleaned up with a boom and absorbent material,” he said in an email to the Record. “A report to council is pending final reporting from the remediation company.”
