Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC) is Canada’s west coast Transport Canada Certified Response Organisation responsible for all navigable water in British Columbia, 27,000 km of coastal shorelines and waters out to the 200 nautical mile limit.</p
With over 2,300 members WCMRC’s mandate is to ensure there is a state of preparedness in place to mitigate the impact of any oil spill. WCMRC owns and operates 31 vessels and multiple caches of equipment that have been strategically located along the coast. As part of WCMRC’s prevention strategies the west coast of Canada has been mapped with both environmental and socio-economic sensitivities, and associated pre-planned strategies have been identified and developed.
To support the operation WCMRC has developed a network of contractors and fishers (FOSET – Fishermen’s Oil Spill Emergency Team), along with mutual aid agreements with other response organisations for support in the event of a worst-case scenario. WCMRC also offers a range of preparedness training (e.g. ICS), exercising opportunities and third party services.
“The world of spill response is very small when you step back and look at it from a global perspective. The environment we operate in may be different but the goal remains the same around the world. Ensuring a rapid, effective response, that will mitigate the impact on the environment, is a common goal and critical to our success.
As an organisation, GRN pulls together a network of expertise that if / when needed can be a source for data, supply training materials and/or be a resource that can be called upon to assist with most situations responders will face around the world. It is this sharing of expertise and best practices that makes GRN unique. The ability to benchmark, network world wide, share & learn from others, create member teams of subject matter experts (Operating Teams) and develop best practices, all in a non-competitive environment sets GRN apart from others.
Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC) is proud to be a member of GRN. WCMRC will continue to support, share, learn from and work with other GRN members to ensure our individual company memberships receive the best “world leading response capability” available. “
Kevin J. Gardner, GRN Executive Committee
President, WCMRC
