Port Edward shrinks just a bit following news of Port land purchase

The Port of Prince Rupert has announced its purchase
of Stapeldon Island near Port Edward

The Port of Prince Rupert has acquired a bit more land on the North Coast, having completed the steps required towards the purchase of Stapledon Island from the District of Port Edward.

The topic came up as part of  the Question and Answer session for last Wednesday's Annual Port Meeting, with the Port confirming its purchase of the Island located between Lelu Island and the Port Edward townsite

Shelby O'Brien, the Port's  Vice President of Commercial and Regulatory Affairs and General Counsel announced that all the steps to acquire the land had been taken care of earlier this year, with Ms. O'Brien observing how they currently have no plans for development of it at the moment.

"Whenever the Port Authority is acquiring land there is quite a lengthy process, that includes a review from Transport Canada in ordered to allow the land to be placed into our letters patent. So that was completed early this year. We currently have no specific plan for Stapledon Island just considering it for future considerations and it is reflected in our Land Use plan which is being reviewed, so you can see it there as well. -- Port of Prince VP and General Counsel Shelby O'Brien speaking the Port's purchase of Stapledon Island

The port did not state how much was paid to purchase the land from the District.

You can review the Land Use Management Plan referenced by Ms. O'Brien here.

That was not the only piece of news from last weeks APM that was of interest for residents of Port Edward, with the Port CEO providing an update on an incident from 2017 that caused much concern in the District about some of the Port's disposal practices of the past.

As part of the presentation of last Wednesday, Mr. Stevenson outlined how the Port has approached a failure in process when it came to an Open Burn environmental incident on Ridley Island in 2017 and how it has followed up on its procedures to ensure that such an event does not take place again.

"While this wasn't intentional and we've taken full responsibility for it, our follow up on our own practice and procedures and other protocols in place ensure that we won't do this again, It was a process failure by PRPA. It's led to a significant review of our processes and procedures and we're committed to ensure that the environment is considered and impacts on environment are mitigated in our operations our development and the way we conduct ourself going forward. When mistakes are made we are committed to taking responsibility and doing things better" -- Port CEO and President Shaun Stevenson on the 2017 Ridley Island Burn incident

The 2017 incident was the focus for a court case that has worked its way through the courts over the last two years and came to a conclusion in January of this year.

For more notes related to the District of Port Edward see our archive page here, a wider overview of the Port's themes can be found from our notes of Thursday.

You can review all of the Port developments from our archive page here.