By Madeline Dunnett, The Discourse, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
On a stormy day at the end of September, the vessels at Deep Water Recovery’s site in Union Bay were being pummelled with rain. Robert Bohn Senior, one of the company owners, and operations manager Mark Jurisich were clad in high-visibility clothing and gumboots.
The two men were leading myself and The Discourse Nanaimo reporter, Mick Sweetman, on a tour of the property. It was the first time The Discourse was offered a visit to the site, though we have been reporting on the shipbreaking situation in Union Bay since October 2023.
The company has caused a stir in Union Bay, B.C. after it transformed the site of a former log sort into a site to dismantle derelict vessels and sell them for parts. Community members have rallied to try and halt operations, citing concern for the health of the environment and neighbouring residents.
On the tour, Bohn and Jurisich spent time explaining the company’s position in regards to the staunch opposition it has received. They argued that chemicals found in the water from the site by the province are not caused by Deep Water Recovery’s operations, but by the historical coal mining operations that existed near the site. Bohn and Jurisich said the company was being “unfairly hammered” and asked that community members who have been fighting against their operations leave them alone.
‘It’s not us,’ says Deep Water Recovery owner
In August 2024, Deep Water Recovery received a letter from the province after an inspection found acute levels of effluent discharged into Baynes Sound by the company’s operations. The company operations were found to be discharging copper effluent at more than 100 times the province’s allowable limit, and 13 times more than what is allowed for zinc effluent.
The letter cited B.C. Water Quality Guideline levels and warned that if the company fails to stop discharging acute and chronic levels of effluent into Baynes Sound, it could be subject to an offence of up to $300,000 under the Environmental Management Act, or an administrative penalty of up to $40,000 under the Administrative Penalties Regulation.
If fined, this would be the company’s second administrative penalty. On Oct. 11, 2023, the company was ordered to pay $500 for failing to meet provincially set deadlines for its monthly monitoring reports, which share data on the company’s effluent discharge and its potential impact on the surrounding environment.
“We don’t deny there’s some problems. We’re just saying it’s not us,” Bohn told The Discourse.
Bohn is the father of Andrew Bohn, chief executive officer of Ocean Logistics Limited and director of Deep Water Recovery.
Bohn said that although the company’s site isn’t open to the public, Deep Water Recovery is “not hiding anything from you … and you can’t know what’s happening until you come and look.”
“Most of the time we aren’t doing anything, we aren’t cutting anything. The test levels we’re receiving are the same whether we are operating or not,” Bohn said. “We came here, to B.C., and bought a site that, for 120 years has been an industrial maritime area. That’s what we bought. I want to be left alone. [I’m] not saying with no oversight, I just want to be left alone to run my business.”
Coal waste found in soil near Deep Water Recovery site
To help prove that the contamination came from historic coal operations and not Deep Water Recovery’s operations, Bohn and Jurisich pointed to a 2022 report (sent to The Discourse by DWR) from Tetra Tech Canada Inc. The report was prepared for FortisBC for a proposed gas main extension project in Union Bay. Tetra Tech measured a 3.1 kilometre area along Island Highway which included land adjacent to Deep Water Recovery’s shipbreaking site.
The results found that coal waste, or what the report deemed “coal-like fragments,” was observed at two of the 29 investigation locations.
The tests also showed select concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) — a group of chemicals that occur naturally in coal and other organic material — which exceeded BC’s Contaminated Sites Regulation guidelines. One of the two test areas had concentrations of arsenic and benzene that exceeded provincial standards.
One location also had high concentrations of zinc in the soil. This same chemical was found in concentrations that exceeded provincial standards when the province tested water at Deep Water Recovery’s site.
While the Tetra Tech report showcases heavy metal concentrations in soil in and around Deep Water Recovery’s site, it also notes that the report findings are based “solely on the conditions presented and the data available to Tetra Tech at the time the data were collected in the field.” The document added that it is “not applicable to any other sites, nor should it be relied upon for types of development other than those to which it refers.”
The Tetra Tech investigation also only measured soil contamination, and the Aug. 2, 2024 results from the province measured water quality. Heavy metals are also known to be found frequently near highways, as rain washes out vehicle emissions and transportation-generated wastes that contaminate the soil.
In a previous story for The Discourse, Carla Conkin, a lawyer working with Concerned Citizens of Baynes Sound, told the Discourse that “just because it’s an industrial area doesn’t mean it’s no holds barred.”
“If there’s some historical issue, you own it. You can go after former players if that’s the case but you’re responsible,” she said.
Bohn and Jurisich also pointed to the Union Bay Coal Pile Remediation Project, which focuses on environmental clean-up of a neighbouring site and addresses historic coal waste to mitigate environmental risks.
“We’ve got massive amounts of dissolved metals above us,” Bohn said.
The Discourse reached out to the province about whether Deep Water Recovery’s site was tested for metal contamination prior to the company beginning operations, but has not heard back by the time of publication.
In an email to The Discourse, Jurisich said water testing was recently completed at the site by Environment and Climate Change Canada, and “the results were excellent.” He added that they could be shared in-person, but did not respond by the time of publication when The Discourse asked to see the results via email.
The Discourse also reached out to Environment and Climate Change Canada to see the results, but did not hear back by the time of publication.
Deep Water Recovery working on wastewater treatment
Bohn also confirmed that the province recently asked Deep Water Recovery to install a wastewater treatment plant, but said he doesn’t believe the deadlines were fair. He said the company hired Envirochem — an environmental consulting company based out of North Vancouver — which suggested Deep Water Recovery improve its wastewater catchment areas on the site, including wastewater treatment.
He explained that the wastewater treatment would remove the heavy metals from the water by a process of chemical interaction, and the company is currently working on this. But Bohn said the Oct. 1 deadline the company was given at the time wasn’t feasible.
Jurisich confirmed via email on Nov. 25 that the company has not yet implemented the wastewater treatment.
In an email to the Discourse, David Karn, senior public affairs officer for the province’s Ministry of Environment and Climate Change Strategy, confirmed that Deep Water Recovery has requested some deadline extensions from the province.
“DWR and their consultant have, on a few occasions, requested extensions to deadlines set in the Pollution Abatement Order by the Ministry. Staff have granted extensions after evaluating those requests to ensure fairness is being applied and the environment is protected,” he said.
The Discourse will continue to follow this story as it evolves.
Links of Interest:
- BC Ferries was in negotiations with controversial ship-breaking operation, email shows – The Discourse (Nov 9, 2023)
- Deep Water Recovery Facebook page
Top image credit: Robert Bohn Senior, left, and Mark Jurisich during The Discourse’s November tour of Deep Water Recovery. Photo by Mick Sweetman/The Discourse
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