Seven months after a barge ran aground on the shores of the Vancouver Seawall, its demolition is still pending. A provincial deputy lamented the fact that municipal and federal authorities passed the money by talking about a process that was more complicated than it seemed.
In Nov. 15, 2021, extreme weather in southern British Columbia pushed an adrift barge, which quickly became a local tourist attraction in English Bay, where it ran aground. Its dissolution was announced in February, but since then it has still not moved.
This lack of movement responded to the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly and Member of Parliament for the ride to the Vancouver-West End, where the barge is located, Spencer Chandra Herbert.
” Funny at first, but now annoying and embarrassing, honestly. “
If residents are in a hurry to take a selfie or make their marriage proposal in front of the attraction, it’s because they think it will be removed quickly, Spencer Chandra Herbert said.
People took advantage of this. Now I seem to want to say, “Wait a minute, why is he still here?”
It doesn’t make sense to me that we have a federal agency responsible for making sure these things are cleaned and we can’t ask the owner to take care of them.he said.
It doesn’t inspire me to be overly confident in what could happen if it was a major oil spill.added Spencer Chandra Herbert.
Whose responsibility is this?
Spencer Chandra Herbert said his hands were tied because it was not within provincial jurisdiction to dismantle the barge. He urges the City of Vancouver and Ottawa to act faster.
I think, if we ask the landlord to pay rent to park on our public beach, they will quickly solve the problem. […] Why isn’t this company removing this barge and the federal government isn’t helping? asked Spencer Chandra Herbert.
The dismantling delays are regrettable, but not surprising, said Marc Isaacs, a maritime attorney in Toronto.
He believes this is a long-term process, which must be planned and approved at various levels, including Transport Canada, the City of Vancouver and Aboriginal groups concerned about the environmental impacts of the project.
What we want to avoid is creating a bigger catastrophe.said Marc Isaacs, citing a possible oil leak or loss of barge pieces in False Creek.
In a statement, Transport Canada said the owner had taken steps to implement the demolition, but maintained that the process is more complicated and takes longer than expected.
The federal agency added that the barge’s owner, Sentry Marine Towing, did not receive a ticket after grounding, because the incident never violated the 2001 Canada Shipping Act.
The City of Vancouver, for its part, has said it will announce a date for the start of the barge dismantling in the near future.
Radio Canada
Source: Radio-Canada
