Logging camp trailers, that had been on a sunken barge, have broken off and floated loose.
A concrete barge, which was tied up at a dock at the Catalyst Paper Corporation mill site, sunk on Christmas Eve during a storm. The barge had two levels of trailers on it and had been used as a floating logging camp. One of the trailers broke loose and was secured on shore inside a boom.
Sometime at the end of March or early April, some of the remaining trailers broke loose and debris floated out into Malaspina Strait.
John Spick is a principle in JRK Holdings Ltd., the company that is leasing the property from Catalyst. He said the barge is owned by another company and was moored at his site when it sank. “We’re dealing with Transport Canada on it, then we’ll be going through the process of salvaging it,” he said. “We have to take whatever structures are on it off and then work at refloating it.”
Sau Sau Liu, a Transport Canada spokesperson, said the barge owner is responsible for the barge and for ensuring it doesn’t become an environmental or navigational hazard. “Transport Canada will be investigating this incident to determine if the debris is causing any obstruction to navigation,” she said. “A Notice to Shipping may be issued to address any potential obstructions to navigation.”
