Landmarks for more than 30 years, the four fuel tanks that stood in Powell River on Wharf Street near BC Ferries’ Westview Terminal have been demolished.
The property is owned by Imperial Oil, which had leased it to a Powell River distributor of Esso fuels to operate as a fuel terminal, according to Imperial Oil spokesperson Jon Harding.
Harding said after a review of the terminal’s operational and financial value to the company, the facility was closed in October 2017.
The tanks are gone and dismantling of the fuel facility continues, said Harding.
“It's going to take several weeks,” said Harding. “They're going to make sure that work takes place safely and then it will be a property with no facilities on it.”
Imperial Oil plans to sell the land, which is located at a prime real estate location overlooking Westview Terminal and the Georgia Strait.
“There are some things we need to do between now and that point,” said Harding. “Getting to that point may take some time.”
The land can be sold at any time.
There will be an environmental assessment on the property.
“That will mean you typically drill some wells to monitor groundwater, to monitor soil conditions and you need to monitor and collect that data over several seasons,” said Harding.
After determining the environmental condition of the property and completing a remediation plan, an application will be made for a provincial certificate of compliance.
“The environment assessment is especially necessary for us to market the property for sale,” said Harding. “If there's no remediation required then you can move ahead to get the certificate of compliance. We do need to understand the environmental condition of the property now that it's not operating as a terminal.”
Because it was a fuel site, the questions mayor Dave Formosa asks is about Imperial’s plan for cleanup, the selling price and if the city would consider the property be turned into a public space.
“Does the city have the money to buy that? I don’t think we do, but that's my opinion,” said Formosa. “Or do they say, ‘well, we’ll give it to you and we’re not going to remediate it,’ and we make it a brown field park and turn it into part of the waterfront attraction?”
