It's been three years since the ongoing oil leak at Burnaby's Chevron refinery was first discovered, and the company is expecting it to last many more.
On April 21, 2010, Chevron discovered a mix of gas, diesel and crude seeping offsite at the north side of the refinery, just uphill from the Burrard Inlet. The mix has been leaching through the groundwater ever since, although Chevron has installed a hydraulic barrier system along the refinery's property edge and an underground barrier on the beach below to catch contaminated groundwater.
"Chevron is committed to the long-term mitigation of the seep and will maintain the systems that have been installed for as long as required," said refinery spokesperson Ray Lord in an emailed statement.
"Management of this seepage and the prevention of further offsite migration will be ongoing for the foreseeable future - likely many years." Lord said it was not a leak but a seepage from "historic accumulation of subsurface contamination" at the refinery.
Chevron estimates the total seep area is approximately 12,000 square metres, most of which is on Chevron's property below a portion of the refinery's active processing units.
According to a human health risk assessment, submitted to Fraser Health and the B.C. Environment Ministry, "nobody is being exposed to chemicals from the seeps in ways that could lead to adverse health effects and unacceptable health risks under current site conditions and human activities," Lord stated. Lord also said that approximately 21.2 cubic metres (or 21,200 litres) of hydrocarbons have been recovered on the refinery property and in a trench along the railroad tracks downhill.
"It is difficult to estimate the amount that has migrated offsite at the foreshore because it is absorbed by the organo-clay barrier that has been installed since March 2011," Lord added.
It's not clear how much is still leaking, but Chevron fixed a portion of its sewer system, a contributing source to the seeping oil and gas.
According to Lord, "the likelihood of adverse effects to ecological receptors from direct contact with surface water and sediment at the foreshore is negligible."
In an emailed statement, the Ministry of Environment said the refinery seep was largely contained with the exception of a small amount of sheen still showing up during heavy rains.
"While a spill of any size is a concern, this has been a comparatively small spill with no reported impacts to wildlife in the area," the statement reads. "To date, the Ministry of Environment is satisfied with the actions being taken by Chevron to isolate and clean up the seepage."
The Ministry is still dealing with "some lingering issues" with Chevron and is asking the company to keep monitoring the foreshore for another year.
The David Suzuki Foundation's John Werring, however, is not satisfied. The aquatic habitat specialist has been keeping an eye on the seep over the years, and he would like to see Chevron treating the contaminated water and reusing it or digging up the contaminated soil onsite before the contaminated groundwater leaches off the property.
"Whatever the solution is, it's going to be a very costly one, and when it comes down to profit, if no on is going to force them to clean that site up, I don't think they are going to do it with good will. There's no business case for them," he said.
Werring also suggested the site has been leaching chemicals for a lot longer than three years, but that the more water soluble components would not have been detected, and the heavier, non soluble oils are now finally showing up.
"I would suggest very strongly that the chemicals that would be in the water that would be soluble, . would have been able to be detected 10 (or) 15 years ago, but no one was monitoring offsite then," he said. "What you are seeing now is the heavy oil."
