Environment Canada estimated a total of 50 tons of the food quality canola oil was spilled while being loaded onto the Maltese-registered tanker Poti. The oil was mostly cleaned up by late Sunday.
Canola oil is vegetable based and poses a low risk to human and the marine environment.
But it does present a significant threat to waterfowl, according to Environment Canada because birds are susceptible to hypothermia when oil saturates their feathers. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has been contracted to rescue affected birds. Two birds have died so far, and SPCA spokesman Bob Gordon says the next 24 hours are critical for the waterfowl population. This third canola oil spill in Burrard Inlet in two years has prompted calls for changes in the way the oil is handled. Environment Canada is considering charges in a 200 ton spill that killed 2,000 birds on November 25, 1999.