Davis Bay beach was lined with spectators on Tuesday morning when a barge carrying limestone was run aground to save it from sinking in the Strait of Georgia.
"We don't know what happened yet, and we won't know until we get the barge emptied," said Rod Benjamin, of Wayden Transportation.
His tugboat company had chartered the barge from Sea-Link Marine Services Ltd. of New Westminster to haul limestone from the Texada Island quarry to Lafarge's terminal in Richmond.
During the routine trip, the barge started to take on water and the load started to shift.
Soon it was evident the barge could possibly sink or capsize. The tug boat operator decided to beach the barge in Davis Bay to save the load at about 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 24.
"I would say our [tug boat] operators did a good job. They got the barge to safety, no one got hurt, and they saved the majority of the load," said Benjamin.
The barge sat at Davis Bay beach for the remainder of Tuesday afternoon. In the evening Benjamin said his company hired a crew and equipment to transfer the remaining limestone onto another barge.
By 10 a.m. Wednesday morning, the remaining limestone had been delivered to Lafarge and the damaged barge had been hauled into dry dock.
Currently the barge is filled with water. Benjamin says it will take a few days to drain it completely and inspect the hull.
As for the "minimal" amount of limestone that was left in the Strait and on Davis Bay beach, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) says the spill doesn't pose much of an environmental threat.
"In talking with our biologist, there seems to be little if any environmental damage," said Robert Kaatz of DFO.
He noted "very little" limestone came off the barge and preliminary testing shows no damage to the fish in the area.- With files from Patricia Hall
