Stand long enough next to Goldstream River and the gasoline smell will eventually burble to the surface.

More than a week after a Columbia Fuels tanker crashed and spilled nearly 42,000 litres of gasoline into the river, residual fuel remains glued to stones in the water. Dead salmon fry are visible from the riverbank.

B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 lots of dead sculpin today,B次元官网网址� remarked Laurie Boyle, an emergency planning response officer with the Ministry of Environment, holding a plastic bag with half a dozen small fish.

Absorbent booms are strung across Goldstream River near Finlayson Arm Road to catch gasoline residue slowly making its way to the surface. A majority of the fuel B次元官网网址� 600 litres of it was also diesel B次元官网网址� flowed into the Goldstream estuary and evaporated last weekend, but traces remain on rocks or absorbed into soil and stream side vegetation.

Graham Knox, manager of the environmental emergency program with the Ministry of Environment, said over the next days and weeks, ministry staff, First Nations and other agencies will try to quantify damage done to the river ecosystem.

B次元官网网址淎ll agencies and First Nations will contribute. We want to get a good picture of the full range of damage,B次元官网网址� Knox said. B次元官网网址淲e need to determine what Columbia Fuels is responsible for remediating.B次元官网网址�

Knox and fisheries biologists with Tsawout First Nation reported last week that thousands of juvenile chum and coho died in the initial wave of gasoline. Now they need to determine if fish are returning to the main channel and if residual fuel is linked to further deaths.

B次元官网网址淪ome (salmon) may have moved up a side channel and are now moving back,B次元官网网址� Knox said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e looking for new mortalities from material trapped under cobbles. But every hour, every day (the fuel) breaks down more.B次元官网网址�

Determining the extent of the damage is a difficult question, and bringing the ecosystem back to full health, if possible, will be delicate balance between remediation and letting nature do the work.

Knox said there could be habitat restoration projects and work with the Goldstream hatchery to release more fish, but environmental officers want to avoid coming at the river with a heavy hand.

B次元官网网址淲e arenB次元官网网址檛 going to be raking the entire river,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淪ome solutions are more damaging and invasive.B次元官网网址�

Knox agreed the fuel spill in Goldstream River is a disaster for the ecosystem and people who depend on the river for food, but to what extent will be determined by research and monitoring.

B次元官网网址淔or the First Nations people who rely on chum for food and cultural uses, it is a disaster. For the hatchery (volunteers) who put all this effort into making this a productive stream, itB次元官网网址檚 a disaster,B次元官网网址� Knox said. B次元官网网址淔or the fish itB次元官网网址檚 a disaster. To what extent is to be determined.B次元官网网址�

At the Goldstream Nature House, park naturalist Bre Statham said the phone has been ringing off the hook from people wanting to help clean up the river.

B次元官网网址淧eople call and say B次元官网网址業B次元官网网址檝e got my gum boots, what can I do?B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淯nfortunately letting the public in the river would do more harm than good, but the community support is amazing. So many people are passionate about the river.B次元官网网址�

First Nations left in the dark after fuel disaster

First Nations chiefs gathered at Goldstream River Thursday and blasted the federal and provincial governments for leaving them out of the communications loop after the April 16 fuel spill.

Five First Nations B次元官网网址� Tsartlip, Tsawout, Pauquachin, Tseycum and Malahat, representing about 3,000 people B次元官网网址� catch thousands of fish each year for food and ceremonial purposes from the Goldstream River system. Offering a joint call for action, the five say they have an moral and legal right to be involved in how the river system is restored to health.

B次元官网网址淥ur people rely on the stream year after year. But now that this has happened, itB次元官网网址檚 become something of a dead water for us,B次元官网网址� said Tsartlip Chief Ivan Wayne Morris. B次元官网网址淓ven though you see the water running, thereB次元官网网址檚 nothing alive in it.B次元官网网址�

Morris said the government didnB次元官网网址檛 bother to communicate with the five First Nations that surround the stream, despite the local expertise on working within the river system.

B次元官网网址淭here were numerous ministries involved here. Not one took the opportunity to come and talk to us. Not one,B次元官网网址� Morris said.

B次元官网网址�(The spill is) a real devastation to our children, our elders and our community. We want to be involved every step of the way.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檇 like to see restoration, weB次元官网网址檇 like to see it brought back to what it was before,B次元官网网址� he continued. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e looking at whatB次元官网网址檚 not going to be there for us in the next few years. When we came down here that day (April 17) there was absolutely nothing swimming around.B次元官网网址�

The five First Nations had a meeting with Columbia Fuels on Thursday, although he said no specifics were promised other than to keep working together.

Tsawout fisheries manager Dan Claxton agreed that better communication could have allowed for a broader response to contain the spill in the Goldstream estuary, while emergency crews dealt with the tanker crash on the highway.

B次元官网网址�(Department of Fisheries and Oceans) have teams ... that could have been down here with us helping us contain the spill,B次元官网网址� Claxton said. B次元官网网址淭here is a definite disconnect there.B次元官网网址�

Ian Bruce, a fisheries biologist with Tsawout, said on Thursday he was seeing fewer new dead fish, but only time will tell the ultimate toll.

B次元官网网址淥ne of the questions we want to have answered is what is left in terms of fish resources?,B次元官网网址� Bruce said. B次元官网网址淭here is obviously some fish still alive, but what species and how many? Why are they still alive and so many others died?B次元官网网址�

editor@goldstreamgazette.com