When a tank trailer fell into the river, questions arose after footage appeared to show murky water coming out from a pressure relief valve.
On Tuesday, SalmonBusiness reported that a tank tanker full of dead salmon silage fell into the Duncan Bay, north of Campbell River, British Columbia, Canada.
The tank trailer shifted and rolled off the deck of the 98-ft landing craft (LC) “Inlet Raider” that belonged to Coastal Seatrucking due to heavy wave action.
No discharge
It was reported that silage was seen leaking into the water. But when SalmonBusiness contacted Fisheries, Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard, it said that the tank trailer was “intact and there was no discharge of organic or non-organic (hydrocarbons) materials”.
“The CCGS Cape Palmerston was tasked to attend the scene and assist if required. No persons were injured or required rescue in the incident. The tank trailer remained afloat, was recovered and towed into Duncan Bay by C-Tow. The landing craft company is going to remove the tank trailer from the water shortly”.
Silage
A spokesperson for Cermaq Canada explained that it worked with several local contractors and service providers, including Coastal Sea Trucking and West Coast Reduction for transporting and handling of its silage.
“Silage is created at our sites and is a mixture of ground mortalities and formic acid,” said Cermaq. “The process is completed to kill any possible pathogens in the mixture, making it bio-secure and stable for transport. The resulting silage has a pH ranging between 3.5 and four depending on the mixture.
“For comparison, apples and oranges have a pH of about 3.5, while tomatoes have a pH of four. In this instance, the silage in the trailer tank was from one of our farms off the east coast of Vancouver Island.”
“Like all maritime operators, the companies that service our farms are often faced with challenging ocean conditions. Thankfully, due to the design of the tank and support provided by another vessel, the overboard trailer was safely tied and secured and towed to a nearby dock, it added.
SalmonBusiness then provided the video (which can be seen via this link) from local commercial diver James Lawson to Cermaq. Lawson said that he allegedly witnessed the pressure release valve going off which would then spurt out.
“It would be appropriate if you reached out to the contractor and trailer owners for that information,” said Cermaq.
1/4 of a cup
SalmonBusiness then showed Billy Vaughn owner of Coastal Seatrucking the footage and asked the following: Was there a slight leak or is this something else? If you look at this footage, there is something coming out – what could it be?
“Pressure relief valve let about a 1/4 of a cup out when the diver was down there and it’s the only time it happened in two days cause it was being monitored so I’m not sure if he give the valve a little test or not, regardless there was nothing in there that would harm anything,” said Vaughn.
“Or the diver could have knocked some dirt off the trailer,” he added.
