The future of the vessel the HMCS Annapolis, which is currently being prepared for sinking to become an artificial reef in Halkett Bay Marine Park, has become as murky as turbid water.
The Artificial Reef Society of B.C. announced Jan. 5 that it would be sinking the 1960s former warship on Jan. 17.
“The ship will be towed from Long Bay, also known as Port Graves, to neighbouring Halkett Bay on Jan. 13, 2015 for anchoring over the sink site. Final preparations will be made before sinking on Saturday, January 17, 2015. The sinking is expected to take place in the late morning and is a weather-dependent event,” read a news release from the society.
But the lawyer for the group Save Halkett Bay Marine Park Society, Martin Peters, questions how it is possible the group could have the go-ahead.
“The question is: What is Environment Canada doing and why are they letting them get away with this?” Peters told The Squamish Chief Monday morning.
“Does this mean Environment Canada has given this the green light, and if so, that is pretty troubling.”
Environment Canada said the necessary permit was issued in October, but a final inspection has not been done.
“A Disposal at Sea Permit to sink the Annapolis was issued by Environment Canada to the Artificial Reef Society of BC on Oct. 2, 2014 and published in the CEPA Registry on Oct. 7, 2014. This permit is valid until Oct. 13, 2015,” read an Environment Canada email to The Squamish Chief on Monday.
“The Artificial Reef Society of BC must comply with Sections 9.4-9.8 of the Disposal at Sea Permit, which will require an inspection by Environment Canada prior to the vessel being sunk. This inspection has not occurred, and as of this date the department has not received a request to conduct this final inspection.”
For the past six years, Save Halkett Bay has been fighting the plan to sink the ship on on Dec. 9 filed a Notice of Objection under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, based on the discovery of what the group says are toxic chemicals in paint chips off the hull of the ship the group had tested; the members say the ship should not be sunk.
“The tributyltin-laced paint is contrary to international, federal and provincial laws and is the most toxic substance ever voluntarily introduced into the marine environment,” Gary Macdonald of the society told The Squamish Chief.
Howie Robins, president of the Artificial Reef Society, said in the news release Monday that all the necessary documents and permits have been obtained.
“We successfully navigated through all the obstacles and now have all the required federal and provincial permits in place and the legal challenges dismissed in federal court.”
On the paint and the permit, Robins said both are a lot of noise over issues that are not major.
“The fact of the matter is we have got freighters in our waters, we have ferries in our waters… they all carry the same type of anti-fouling paint. It is designed to dissipate in the marine environment, it is designed for the marine environment,” he said.
“The Annapolis hasn’t been painted in 35 years. They are going after a red herring here.”
As for the final inspection, Robins said it was a matter of a door on the ship.
“We do have our sink permit, we have it in hand… but there is a small thing… what opens the hanger door [on the ship] is a motor,” he said. “We passed inspection, but we have to take off that motor before we sink the ship.”
He said Environment Canada would come onboard just before the ship is sunk to ensure the motor was removed, Robins said.
Once sunk, the Annapolis will be in a great resource for Vancouver Aquarium researchers, citizen environmentalists and divers, according to Dr. Jeff Marliave, director of the Aquarium’s the Howe Sound Research and Conservation Group.
Marliave disagrees with those who have protested the sinking of the ship for fear of the environmental damage it may cause.
“This is probably the squeakiest clean ship ever to go down,” he said.
“There have been a lot of arguments against it that simply aren’t true,” he said, adding Halkett Bay is not a pristine seabed.
“It is covered in bark from the logging that went on.… Douglas Fir on the seabed takes a long time to break down.”
In terms of diver safety, the sunken Annapolis couldn’t be better, he said. And it will attract fish.
“This is like an offshore pinnacle with caves,” he said.
Marliave said in particular the ship will attract rockfish, which love caves. According to the Aquarium, Howe Sound was one of the first regions in the province that saw a depletion of ground fish stocks such as rockfish.
Marliave also said that if divers are investigating the underwater Annapolis, they aren’t in more environmentally sensitive areas.
“It is safe not just for divers, but for all the places they won’t go to,” he said.
