The following story illustrates how the expertise of Lambton-based environmental companies is utilized in other parts of Canada and the world. In this case, technology not put to the test in Lambton is applied in a remote area of Quebec along the north shore of the St. Lawrence River.

In the late evening of March 23, 1999, the Gordon C. Leitch struggled in storm-tossed waters near Havre-St. Pierre, a small Quebec community that lies on the extreme and remote north shore of the St. Lawrence River where it greets the Atlantic Ocean. The 222-metre (730-foot) freighter was attempting to load rock for the Quebec Iron and Titanium Mining Company, when the rough waters suddenly tossed it against the dock. The impact was severe - ripping a gash into the ship's hull and spilling an estimated 49 tons of bunker fuel oil into the St. Lawrence.

The ship's crew members had been well trained to respond to the environmental incident. They quickly put containment booms in place, managing to corral about 17 tons of the oil. They also called the appropriate environmental and regulatory authorities to notify them of the incident and prepare for the cleanup job ahead. "The crew had the best reaction," says Captain Martin Blouin, Supervisor of Environmental Response for the Canadian Coast Guard. "They adapted quickly to the situation and handled it very well." Blouin says the crew's response during the first minutes and hours was critical in reducing the impact of what could have developed into an environmental disaster. The escaping oil threatened to extend to about 130 kilometers of shoreline and a string of islands in the St. Lawrence.

The fast reaction that Blouin refers to was the result of training provided by environmental safety expert Mark Braet, who heads Petrolia, Ont.-based Environmental Accident Protection (EAP) Inc. Braet himself was also called into action by Upper Lakes Shipping, owner of the Gordon C. Leitch, to lead the cleanup activity.

"We got off to a good start because the ship's crew did their job well during those first few hours," Braet says. "They responded in a way that Upper Lakes' crews have been trained to respond over the years." Under the guidance of Eastern Canada Response Corporation (ECRC), which has offices in Corunna, Ont. and John Lane of Response Systems Inc. (RSI), trained personnel removed the oil contained by the booms over the next few hours. 'We got the oil out of the water with a minimum of disruption to the environment," says Lane.

However, there was still a big job ahead in coping with the oil that had escaped. Poor weather conditions and the remoteness of the location also contributed to the difficulty of managing one of the largest environmental cleanup efforts to take place on Canadian soil or in Canadian waters.

Co-ordinated by ECRC and RSI, an army of local cleanup participants had to contend with freezing rain and winds blowing up to 100 kilometers an hour. Trained workers would normally be brought in from Montreal, but Havre-St. Pierre is so remote that local residents were recruited to implement the cleanup plan. Local fishermen piloted five 35-foot aluminum landing craft that were brought to the site. "They knew the area and the locations of rocks and were helpful in getting people around the site," Lane says.

Five feet of snow remained on the ground so it was difficult to reach the shoreline that needed immediate cleanup attention. During the first few days of the cleanup work, the weather remained bitterly cold, windy and wet with freezing rain. Workers used snowmobiles, as well as landing craft to carry out their work.

The area at risk included Mingan Archipelag National Park Reserve and habitats for migrating birds. That brought Parks Canada into the picture, adding to an already complex jurisdictional situation. The list of stakeholders also included Upper Lakes Shipping, the Canadian Coast Guard (Fisheries and Oceans Canada), Environment Canada, Quebec's Environment Ministry, insurance companies, the local municipal government, the local fishermen's association, ECRC and Quebec Iron and Titanium.

The participants were all in place when Braet arrived on the scene on April 1, after maintaining telephone contact for several days while he completed another project. April 1 was also his oldest son's 15th birthday.

"Most of the oil had been cleaned up and now the issue was the shoreline," Braet says of the scene when he arrived at Havre-St.Pierre. Tides and storms spread the oil over part of the shoreline, contaminating the rock facing. As Project Manager for Upper Lakes Shipping, he would lead a labour-intensive and complicated cleanup job along the shoreline over the next few weeks. Communication issues added to the challenge. Neither Braet nor Lane could speak French and a translator was brought in from Montreal to assist.

"On this type of project, it's very important to able to work with people and understand their emotions and concerns," Braet says. "Some of the key players were speaking a different language and we needed to work through translation in some cases. I couldn't tell initially if people were upset or determine exactly what point they were trying to make. That was obviously a challenge," says Braet. He stayed at a local hotel for 16 days, and worked into the night from the Command Centre or his hotel room. He also walked regularly along the shoreline, encouraging the cleanup crews and meeting with the many officials involved.

Environment Canada and the Coast Guard rotated their officials every four to five days. "It was their way of dealing with fatigue and keeping minds fresh," says Braet. That put even more responsibility on him to maintain continuity and focus.

Local townspeople who participated in the project had a major stake in the success because the two major industries in Havre-St.Pierre are fishing and tourism. 'People were on their hands and knees, scrubbing the rocks with wire brushes and scrapers and taking great ownership of the responsibility to get things cleaned up," Braet says. "As for ECRC and RSL, it was the largest cleanup in their history and I worked with them to help determine priorities and manage the work".

Braet's primary responsibility was as the On-site Representative of Upper Lakes Shipping. "At the same time, I had to make sure that all the regulatory affairs people were satisfied with the direction we were going," he says. "And of course, when you're looking at spending that kind of money, you're answering to the insurance company and the owner of the shipping line to make sure that the money is being spent wisely."

The bird migration was due to arrive in force by mid-April, putting pressure on the cleanup crews to get the work done before the birds began to land, mate and nest. An estimated 1,000 birds were already in the area when the spill occurred. Many were collected and given a hand bath in soft water to clean off the oil. That part of the work took most of the month of April and was done under close co-ordination with a Biologist from Environment Canada.

"The weather was definitely a challenge," says Braet. "We were shut down a couple of times because of freezing rain and snow and moving ice. It was April in the Eastern St. Lawrence and we weren't far off the ocean, so there were some days we couldn't work. Visibility was zero, yet nobody was injured throughout the entire project. I was really proud of that."

Braet returned to the area in June and walked along the shoreline with representatives from the companies and government agencies involved. It was determined that a minimal amount of cleanup remained to be done. The Coast Guard is expected to convene a follow-up meeting of stakeholders later this year.

It's a mark of the professionalism of those directly involved in the cleanup operation that one of Canada's largest spills of its kind, in the midst of a national park, attracted little media attention. Working under extreme weather conditions, the cleanup crew efficiently went about their business to preserve a sensitive environmental area. Today it's business as usual at Havre-St. Pierre. The Gordon C. Leitch once again plies the St. Lawrence Seaway and the vessels of Upper Lakes Shipping continue to carry grain from the Canadian Prairies and Ontario fields down the Seaway and haul ore back up from Quebec Iron and Titanium.

Area residents have turned their attention back to tourism and fishing, while few visitors are even aware that the local environment was so recently threatened.

"It makes me proud to know that years of emergency response training played such an important role in protecting the St. Lawrence environment,"says Braet.