Size of Shuswap Lake fuel spill still unknown

It’s still unclear how much diesel fuel might have leaked into Shuswap Lake, after a tugboat sank on Monday.

The Canoe Forest Products tugboat went down in a remote part of Shuswap Lake and is completely submerged underwater.

The company thinks the tug snagged a line attached to a concrete anchor used to hold log booms in place and that the anchor came off an underwater shelf dragging the tug boat down with it.

“The captain did have to abandon ship when it started to go stern down into the water,” said Canoe Forest Products general manager Marcello Angelozzi.

He was the only person aboard the vessel when it sank. He jumped into the water and was picked up by another tugboat.

However, the sinking has also caused an unknown quantity of fuel to leak into the lake.

“It appears, out of the 4,000 liters of fuel that is was carrying, that only a fraction was actually released into the lake and we had the area boomed off,” said Angelozzi.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It appears, out of the 4,000 liters of fuel that is was carrying, that only a fraction was actually released into the lake and we had the area boomed off," said Angelozzi.

Angelozzi said the amount of fuel outside the boom was “minimal.”

“Unfortunately, the accident did occur. We will take steps to ensure that it doesn’t happen again,” said Angelozzi.

Further remediation work at the site is planned.

On Thursday a crane on a barge is expected to be used to lift the sunken boat.