Temporary permit for Ship breaking work in Industrial park approved

The area of the Industrial Park waterfront set for ship breaking
(From City of PR)

City Council has approved a Temporary Use Permit for plans to conduct ship breaking on at waterfront lot of the Industrial park, granting the permit as part of their Monday Council session.

The Prince Rupert location is the destination for the derelict vessel FV Fairwind which is currently in the Port Edward harbour, it is to be moved to the Prince Rupert Industrial park where it will be taken apart for scrap.

How the vessel will transit to Prince Rupert and what  hazardous material requirements will take palace prior to that transit were outlined in the Report, which you can review from page 9 of the Agenda package from Monday.

click to enlarge

With no comments from the public to consider from the recent comment period related to the application, Council reviewed the Report related to the request one more time as part of the approval process.

Towards questions Councillor Mirau, noting of the work to take place,  raised the issue of any potential hazardous materials that may be discovered later once the vessel is moved to the Industrial site.

"If they were to encounter hazardous materials in the dismantling process, what would happen then"

City Manager Rob Buchan observed how the proponents would be expected to have done their due diligence towards that issue,

"The first effort is that they are supposed to do due diligence to make sure that they remove any hazardous materials on the shipwrecks before it's brought into the city. 

So that's an expectation and a condition laid down in the permit.

If there was hazardous materials that were brought on that we're not aware of, then it would be incumbent on them to properly contain and remove them And I think in that unforeseen eventuality it would make sense to add that as an additional condition in this permit, this draft permit, to make sure that there is just no uncertainty about what they need to do.

So I suggest that we add that as an additional condition for clarity"

Councillor Cunningham joined in with the conversation asking who would be monitoring the situation once in place at the Industrial ste.

In reply the City Manager outlined how the situation could evolve.

"The City doesn't have any processes for monitoring it, if we were to be made aware we would respond accordingly. But we don't have a process do go out and monitor businesses as they conduct business. 

However, having said that, sometimes if things happen we do hear about it and we would respond accordingly"

Councillor Cunningham reinforced his concerns that there is a need for some kind of oversight when it comes to the ship breaking plan.

Mr. Buchan made note of the number of regulations that are currently in place at the provincial level that would fall into place towards that, noting that the city permit is adding some additional flags and signs along the way to minimize the prospect of any hazardous materials showing up.

Mr. Cunningham also raised a suggestion that the city make use of the ship breaking work to try to have some of the derelict vehicles in the community sent away,

The City Manager noted that the suggestion was not part of the proposal at hand, but did note that City staff could speak to the shipper towards a future opportunity for shipment of the derelict vehicle material, observing how there would be a need to ensure that there is someone to receive the material.

The Mayor observed that the recommendation was more to explore opportunities for economies of scale to the issue.

Council then voted to carry the motion with the amendment.

The full discussion of the Permit application can be reviewed from the City's Video Archive starting at the 45 minute mark 

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More notes on Monday's council session can be explored from our Council Timeline Feature.