Booms set up in Killarney Channel after dump truck fell in water December 7/15; Photo Credit: Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Twitter @DFO_Central
Booms set up in Killarney Channel after dump truck fell in water December 7/15;
Photo Credit: Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada Twitter @DFO_Central

By Angela Gemmill

Divers are currently assessing the scene in the Killarney Channel, as a dump truck remains under water after it fell off a barge on Monday.

According to Superintendent of Environmental Response with the Canadian Coast Guard, J.J. Brickett, the divers will first determine the status of any pollution sources before coming up with a plan to remove the vehicle.

He says their assesment will determine what damage was done to the truck, particularly its fuel or hydrolics tanks.

The divers will also determine how to attach slings, how the vehicle is sitting on the bottom and if the removal action would create more environmental problems.

Bricket calls it premature to think the truck would be pulled out today or tomorrow, but he understands the urgency by residents to have the situation rectified.

The Coast Guard is working with the Ontario Ministry of Environment, the municipality of Killarney and other partner agencies to ensure public safety and protection of marine environment.

Booms remain in place to keep fluids from flowing downstream and vacuum trucks are recovering diesel and oil from the waterway.

The Canadian Coast Guard is the lead agency in this case because the truck fell off a barge; a barge is classed as a ship, so essentially the submerged vehicle is pollution from a ship.