A group hoping to sink a decommissioned destroyer to become an artificial reef in Howe Sound is still waiting for a final permit from Environment Canada after five years of effort, a delay that a prominent North Vancouver lawyer calls "insanity."
The federal government gave the former destroyer HMCS Annapolis to the Artificial Reef Society of British Columbia in 2008.
The group has sunk other ships in coastal waters to serve as diver attractions and is familiar with the process of inspection and permitting to ensure there are no pollutants or polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) left onboard before the ship sinks into the underwater ecosystem.
In the last five years, the ARSBC has been granted all its permits except Environment Canada's, which did an inspection in November 2012 but has yet to release the results.
The sinking of the 110metre ship off of Gambier Island has also been met with resistance and complaints from hundreds of Howe Sound residents, the Georgia Strait Alliance and the Islands Trust.
The project is now in even deeper water as the Annapolis is officially "under arrest" and in the control of the federal court.
The request for the "arrest" of the ship was filed by Wesley Roots of W.R. Marine Services, the company which has supplied the ARSBC with the funding to pay for the Annapolis' moorage fees and many operational services.
Roots is asking for a minimum of $95,240 in damages from what he says is a breach of a settlement agreement made on Jan. 25, 2012. He is also requesting a declaration that Roots holds a maritime lien on the ship that gives him ownership until the debt is paid; an order restraining the ARSBC from further work without his consent; costs rendered from the court action; and, interest at two per cent per month or an Admiralty interest at prime rate compounded semi-annually.
Howard Robins, president of the ARSBC, said he's confused and doesn't understand the timing or why the arrest was made.
"We'll respond to this and take it to court if we have to," he said.
James Straith, a North Vancouver lawyer whose firm is working on behalf of Roots, nevertheless sympathizes with the ARSBC.
"Do you know how many thousands of volunteer hours has been going in on this thing?" Straith asked. "It just makes me ill."
Straith, a former president of the ARSBC, confirmed the ship is legally in the hands of the federal court and hopes that despite the funding shortfall the ship will be cleared in the future.
But he doesn't know if and when that will happen.
"I have never seen a government take five years to get a permit issued to a non-profit group," he said. "I mean this is insanity."
He says the process has taken three years longer than it should.
Straith believes the resistance from Howe Sound residents and the Georgia Strait Alliance and other groups have led to numerous delays over the years, to the point where the ARSBC can't afford to keep paying the vessel's fees.
"The government have screwed around on them so long these guys have run out of money," he said. "And this is supposed to be the business-friendly government?"
However, he hopes with Environment Canada's approval they will still be able to work with the ARSBC and sink the ship in the future.
Christianne Wilhelmson, executive director of the Georgia Strait Alliance, said she was surprised but pleased to hear of any delay in the sinking of the ship. ". . . For the health of the water (it) is completely the wrong thing to do," she said. "Anything to delay or hopefully permanently delay the sinking of the Annapolis is a good thing."
Back in 2009, the Alliance claimed the proposed site was a bad location and that the sinking would have a negative impact on the seabed and that the possibility of PCB pollution remained. It also questioned the lack of public process.
But Robins said the ARSBC has followed every government regulation and the ship was deemed PCB free in 2001.
"We're in a holding pattern because an environmental question is out there that has to be answered and we support that," he said. "If we fail an environmental inspection then we are at fault, we have to correct it, it's our mistake. But we didn't get to that point."
Aside from Environment Canada the vessel has been cleared, Robins said.
"If it has materials on it that render the project unfit for disposal, we won't sink it and we advocate the non-use of the ship for that purpose," he said.
The government has been slow to clear the ship, but he understands they have their own process and way of doing things, which he has no control over.
