VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 Inner Harbour is the most polluted coastal waterway in all of B.C., according to stats gleaned from the cityB次元官网网址檚 annual Vital Signs report.
Pollutants can come from a variety of sources including water discharge, road run-off, shipping and construction. However, according to Transport Canada, the largest contributor has been the industrial activity in the area.
B次元官网网址淭here has been a long history of industrial activity in Victoria Harbour, and that the major pollutants of concern are those that are persistent and donB次元官网网址檛 degrade easily in the environment,B次元官网网址� Transport Canada senior communications advisor Annie Joannette saidin an email.
B次元官网网址淭he biggest contributors to pollution in the harbour have been historical industrial activity, such as paint factories and coal gasification plants,B次元官网网址� she added.
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The resulting contaminants include metals such as copper, lead and zinc, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), Dioxins and furans.
Since the 1990s, Transport Canada has been trying to remediate the pollutants and their ensuing complications with efforts that include environmental testing programs for sediments and seafood tissues, co-ordinating stormwater source control activities, and most recently a $60 million iinvestment for contaminated sites within the Harbour.
In 2016, 290,000 tonnes of contaminated soil were removed in the Rock Bay Area and recently, Transport Canada announced they will spend over $17 million to remove and replace contaminated soil at Laurel Point Park.
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Locally, the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority (GVHA) is also doing its best to stay green, undergoing several audits per year from third party organizations, including the Clean Marine BC Program and the Green Marine Environmental Program.
Al-Nashir Charania, GVHA environmental projects manager, said in 2018 the authority scored 5/5 in several categories, including spill prevention and community impact.
B次元官网网址淥n a daily, monthly and annual basis we do what we can to clean up the harbour,B次元官网网址� Charania said, pointing to the annual harbour cleanup with VicPD. B次元官网网址淎nnually we work with the VicPD in a harbour clean upB次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淓very year we tend to gather over half a tonne of garbage, this year we collected two tires in the harbour.B次元官网网址�
On a monthly basis, Charania added boats go out to skim the water for garbage, and on a daily basis the GVHA participates in waste collection and management in all their facilities and offer clean pump-out facilities for all the boats in the harbour.
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