Saanich council has taken a strong step forward in dealing with the problem of derelict vessels. Let鈥檚 hope the other parties involved come aboard. The council unanimously passed Coun. Judy Brownoff鈥檚 motion to seek support from other municipalities to create a fund to deal with derelict and abandoned vessels that contaminate coastal areas. The motion asks that municipalities urge the federal and provincial governments to establish the fund through fees from vessel purchases, registration, insurance and moorage. Municipalities and waterfront property owners would be able to apply for assistance in disposal or removal.
The issue of derelict vessels is complicated by a tangle of disparate and overlapping jurisdictions, but the Saanich motion is straightforward and realistic. And there are useful precedents 鈥� California, Washington and Oregon have established funds for the removal of derelict vessels and other hazards in waterways.
It鈥檚 an issue that perennially causes headaches for municipal and regional governments on any coast, but the jurisdictional confusion makes it too easy for provincial and federal agencies to say: 鈥淣ot our problem.鈥�
This was pointed out in a 2012 Transport Canada study of derelict and abandoned vessels, a study upon which Brownoff鈥檚 motion was based.
鈥淰arious federal, provincial and municipal government departments and agencies deal with some aspect of the issue of abandoned and derelict vessels,鈥� says the study. 鈥淔or example, the 91原创 Coast Guard responds to incidents where pollution can be a threat to the marine environment, which can include abandoned and derelict vessels as the source of the pollution. The CCG can recover the cost of their expenses to deal with pollution from the Ship Source Oil Pollution Fund, but once the pollution and the source are dealt with, the CCG does not have the authority to deal with the abandoned and derelict vessel itself.鈥�
鈥淭he majority of the survey participants identified legal, jurisdictional and financial uncertainties as common challenges for successful removal of vessels. The cost of the removal of a single vessel can be significant; it can vary by locality and is based on many factors from owner identification through to removal.鈥�
Saanich recently spent $25,000 to remove one boat from the Gorge Waterway and two others from Gyro Park Beach. The municipality鈥檚 taxpayers shouldn鈥檛 have to pick up the entire bill.
The issue of derelict vessels is a perennial headache for coastal municipal and regional governments, but it doesn鈥檛 have to be this way. We pay recycling deposits for beverage containers and disposal fees when we buy such items as electronics and tires. Why should boats be any different?
Saanich鈥檚 motion will go to the Association of 91原创 Island and Coastal Communities, Union of British Columbia Municipalities and Federation of 91原创 Municipalities for endorsement.
Nanaimo-Ladysmith NDP MP Sheila Malcolmson is also trying to address the problem with a bill in Parliament that would make the coast guard the 鈥渞eceiver of wrecks鈥� for the purposes of the Canada Shipping Act. It would also compel the government to create regulations for the removal, disposition or destruction of abandoned vessels or wrecks.
鈥淔or too long, responsibility for abandoned vessels and the risks they represent has been shuffled from one government department to the next, with no senior government taking responsibility,鈥� Malcolmson said.
This isn鈥檛 a problem that requires a complicated technical solution 鈥� all it needs is political will. We can stop the intergovernmental shuffle.
