For his co-op placement, Environment and Business undergraduate student James Foote worked in the Response Readiness Team for Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC). The WCMRC is a world-class oil spill response organization tasked with mechanically retrieving spilled oil out of Canada’s West Coast waters. When an oil spill occurs WCMRC is the only marine response organization on the west coast mandated by Transport Canada.
As part of the Response Readiness Team, James worked closely with Transport Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard and various other governmental organizations in developing preparedness plans and researching new spill response technologies. He also analyzed current emergency response techniques in an effort to introduce new, more effective response procedures.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has forced many companies to consider sustainability as an afterthought, the WCMRC has continued to make sustainability a priority throughout the pandemic. Thanks to an increase in funding from the Federal Government, the WCMRC has been able to increase their response time to oil spill sites by acquiring additional vessels and bases while also increasing training to spill response professionals. James saw firsthand how the WCMRC’s recovery capacity increased to around 20,000 tonnes of spilled oil in just 36 hours, which is a drastically enhanced capacity compared to their counterparts on the East Coast, the Eastern Canada Response Corporation (ECRC).
While James stated he was concerned for marine life in British Colombia, because of increased oil in the province, his time at WCMRC eased his worries. “After getting the chance to work firsthand with WCMRC from 2019 to 2021, I can truly say that although the risk is high, I am 100% confident in WCMRC’s ability to respond,” said James.