Residents of a floating household community on the southern coast of BC are worried about their homes as the slime accumulates in the Fraser River, which makes them feel in the mud during the low tide.
Ted Dufresne, resident of Canoe Pass Village in Delta, BC, said the houses lean when the tide is low, which puts the safety of residents at risk.
“We have many older people in this community,” he said. “Let’s say someone got up during the middle of the night and fell, broke a hip or had a heart attack … emergency vehicles, ambulances would have a real problem trying to access them and [for] Some houses may not even enter. “
Paul Scott, chief of maintenance of the village, said he had to be creative to fix the damage to the docks as a result of this situation.
After five years of working in the community, he said that the accumulation of sediments under the docks is only getting worse.
“It shouldn’t be so.”
The construction of slime in the Fraser River is also affecting the members of Tsawwassen First Nation; The first nations said that accumulation threatens river health and access to fishing sites.
“For us, it is not just navigation or infrastructure, it is about our way of life,” the nation said in an email. “Without action, the accumulation of slime threat, not only access to the river, but also the reasonable opportunity of fishing, a correct guaranteed under our final agreement.”
Now, the residents of Tsawwassen First Nation and Canoe Pass Village are asking the area to be dredging, but it is not clear who is really responsible for dredging that particular channel of the Fraser River.
The Port Authority of Vancouver Fraser is responsible for dredging the main channel of the Fraser River, but told CBC News that no unique authority is responsible for the secondary channel, where Canoe Pass Village is located.
The mayor of Delta, George Harvie, said that the Port Authority used to dredge the secondary channel, but since he stopped, no one has been responsible for caring for it. Dufresne, who has lived in Canoe Pass Village for 12 years, said the channel has not been dredging since he lived there.
In a statement sent by email to CBC News, the Ministry of Water Administration, Lands and Resources said that “several organizations and levels of government” have met to discuss the issue “regularly.”
Harvie said Canoe Pass Village is trying to make an emergency dredging under her floating houses, but the community is waiting for a permit.
Residents could try to get the channel without a permission, but they could face strong fines, Harvie added.
He suggested that the annual dredging would cost around $ 3 million per year.
Harvie said that he, together with the mayor of Richmond and the first local nations, sent a letter to the federal government explaining the situation and the serious need for support, but never received an answer.
“It’s $ 3 million,” said Harvie. “It affects public safety, it affects people’s work. I don’t understand why they will simply take measures in this regard.”
Transport Canada could not provide a time comment for publication.
The early editionThe residents of the floating house in Delta are struggling to remain above the water
Canoe Pass Village residents face high security risks since waters around their homes need an urgency of dredging. The mayor of Delta, George Harvie, joined Stephen Quinn to discuss the need for a sustainable dredging program.
