ST. JOHN'S, N.L. — Production at the Hibernia platform remains shut down as the Hibernia Management and Development Company (HMDC) continues with response efforts regarding a release of oil from the platform on July 17.
HMDC has said the discharge — a mix of water and oil — occurred during routine activities related to removing water from one of the storage cells.
Based on aerial surveillance, the estimated volume of oil released from the Hibernia platform was 75 barrels of oil, equivalent to approximately 12,000 litres.
Sunday’s update noted that there are seven support vessels in the field.
“HMDC will continue to use the Atlantic Merlin and the Paul A Sacuta’s single vessel side sweep systems, and the Atlantic Shrike and the Atlantic Kestrel’s mechanical recovery equipment to collect the water and oil mixture,” the statement reads.
“Third party wildlife observers continue to monitor for wildlife from vessels and overflights.”
Saturday’s update noted that a report was received of one oiled bird discovered in the area.
“An attempt was made to recover the bird utilizing a fast rescue craft, however, when the crew reached the area it could not locate the bird,” HMDC said.
“We have reported the bird sighting to regulatory authorities including Canadian Wildlife Service, Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canada-Newfoundland and Labrador Offshore Petroleum Board.”
On Sunday HMDC said there have been no other reports of impacted wildlife. There are five wildlife observers in the field.
“Everyone at HMDC takes safety and protection of the environment very seriously,” Scott Sandlin, president of HMDC, has said. “We’re disappointed the discharge occurred, but we are working diligently to minimize impacts on the environment.”
