The Coast Guard has taken control of two barges, one of which was sinking in the Mamquam Blind Channel.
Since Sunday night, the Coast Guard has been on the channel investigating a sinking shed barge owned by Steen Larsen of Squamish.
“On Sunday evening, Canadian Coast Guard received a call from a concerned citizen that a green barge in Blind Channel was sinking and that the owner was actively trying to keep it afloat with pumps,” Michelle Imbeau, communications advisor with the Coast Guard, said by email Monday.
In November 2014, Larsen’s 59.7-metre rusting vessel the Spudnik broke loose from its moorings and drifted into open waters of Howe Sound. That vessel was eventually secured by authorities and towed to a salvage yard in New Westminster.
On Tuesday, Larsen relinquished control of the green barge and his King Arthur barge to allow the deconstruction of the two vessels, according to the Coast Guard.
“Mr. Larsen remains the owner of both barges, and as such, is responsible for all cleanup costs,” Imbeau said Tuesday afternoon.
The Coast Guard will pay for the cleaning of hydrocarbons from the barges prior to deconstruction and then make a claim for the costs, first to the owner and then to the Canada Ship-source Oil Pollution Fund, Imbeau said.
The developer of the nearby waterfront land, Ocean Point Holdings, will pay to deconstruct the barges and use the monies from the scrap steel to recover the costs, Imbeau said.
“This is really between the landowner and them,” Mayor Patricia Heintzman said about the owners of the property and the barge. “Where the barge is is on Squamish Ocean Point holdings property.”
Eight boat owners with vessels either previously or currently unlawfully moored in the channel are named in a corporate notice of civil claim that was filed with the B.C. Supreme Court registry in Vancouver on Jan. 6. In the document, Squamish Ocean Point Holdings Inc. (Waterfront Landing) made a claim for damages for trespass related to unauthorized mooring of vessels in the Mamquam Blind Channel.
Some boats previously in the Mamquam Blind Channel are currently moored at Nexen Beach, according to boater John Buchanan, who was out on the water Monday and Tuesday.
This story has been updated since it was first posted and the Squamish Chief will update this story as events progress.
