Achi news desk-
Residents of a Vancouver Island community are celebrating an order from the province telling a ship breaking company to take action to stop polluting their local water.
On the shores of the Salish Sea south of Courtenay, the sight of beached ships is unmistakable.
The four-year-old Deepwater Recovery operation here has rated neighbors and the regional area
This week they marked what would appear to be a victory for local people.
The Ministry of Environment has issued a pollution reduction order, instructing the company to immediately stop the release of the elements copper, lead and zinc above the approved levels.
“The good news is that it shows that what we’ve been saying for the last several years,” said Ray Rewcastle, president of the Concerned Citizens of Baynes Sound.
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“That this operation has been polluting Baynes Sound with heavy metals.”
Shipbreaking is a necessary part of the global economy.
But it is also considered a dangerous industry, as many ships contain asbestos and a long list of other potential contaminants.
The Baynes Sound group says the area is simply the wrong place to do this kind of work, and they question how Deepwater Recovery was able to set up shop here.
There are international rules about moving ships to different countries for shipbreaking. Baynes Sound campaigners say they believe the two ships currently on the beach are of American origin.
If that is true, it raises questions about whether they had official authorization.
Global News reached out to Transport Canada for information and was told there is no law requiring people to declare ships like these being brought into the country for shipbreaking.
Deepwater Recovery co-owner Mark Jurisich told Global News Friday that the pollution in question was unrelated to his business, and was actually coming from nearby coal deposits and historic mines in the area.
He also said the company prefers not to be labeled a shipbreaking operation but rather a “vessel repair facility.”
& copy 2024 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
