Judith
Lavoie
Times Colonist (Victoria)
Monday, January 15, 2007
Styrofoam
debris keeps piling up, but no one willing to help with cleanup.
At first glance, it looks as if mini-icebergs are floating around the
chilly waters of Nootka Sound.
But, the reality is more disturbing, says Kip Hedley, lighthouse keeper at historic Nootka Lighthouse, who now has a boathouse and a basement full of massive chunks of Styrofoam.
"Just before Christmas I saw some chunks floating around and I thought 'oh man that's not a good thing.' Then, on Christmas Eve, a huge amount of the stuff came floating around. I was just sickened," he said.
Hedley, who worked as assistant lighthouse keeper from 1989 to 1993 and has been keeper since 2003, said he had never before seen anything like the Styrofoam garbage in the usually pristine waters of the sound.
Hedley started hauling the biggest chunks of Styrofoam out of the water and off the rocks, but says he is now running out of room and cannot get any government commitment to help with the cleanup.
"I'm not going to pluck any more until I find out whether someone's going to take what I have. No one seems very interested," he said.
The Styrofoam is from a float that broke apart in one of the recent storms to hit the Island. Bob Handyside, the original owner of the float, said he has tried to retrieve it, but the weather has been too bad and the retrieval operation became complicated after the float broke apart.
The float was part of the Hoiss Point Lodge, which burned down in November. After the fire, Handyside said he arranged for a tug to pull the $250,000 float to Gold River for repairs.
"But, it got away in the big storm and went up on the rocks and now its started busting apart," Handyside said.
Two efforts were made to retrieve the float, but it has been too rough and "we almost lost a life trying to get it," he said.
"Now it's a matter of waiting for the right weather. I am getting 100 phone calls a day about it and there's nothing I can do. People have just got to quit this screaming and hollering. It's not as if I'm doing it on purpose," he said.
Handyside said he would be delighted if some government department would help with the cleanup.
"They could send the bill to the insurance company. They're supposed to cover cleanup and I haven't got a dime from them yet."
Hedley is worried that, as the Styrofoam rubs against rocks and becomes popcorn sized, it will be eaten by fish, birds and marine mammals who mistake it for food.
"I think they will die if they eat it. This is just heartbreaking for me," Hedley said.
Ray Williams, who has lived at Yuquot -- also known as Friendly Cove -- for his entire 65 years, wants Styrofoam floats banned.
"It's a big mess here. It's a big eyesore. I've never seen anything like this before," he said.
Members of the Mowachaht-Muchalaht First Nation should be paid to help clean up the mess, Williams said.
Yuquot is Mowachaht-Muchalaht traditional summer territory.
"This makes all of us angry," Williams said.
Kevin Vautier, of Nootka Sound Shellfish, said shellfish farmers' code of practice forbids the use of Styrofoam "because it makes a helluva mess."
The Styrofoam pieces should have been cleaned up immediately after the fire, Vautier said.
"I am appalled at the volume of Styrofoam and the birds are certainly pecking at it. In terms of environmental impact, it doesn't go away."
© Times Colonist
(Victoria) 2007
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