Four box trucks filled with concrete sit on the bottom of the Bay of Fundy near Walton, NS, where residents worry that debris – abandoned by another fishing power project – has become a danger to local fishermen.
In May 2023, the train was floated with a large inflatable bag at the mouth of Walton Harbor, an area where about 20 to 30 recreational fishermen pass each day. as they seek to surf the prized bass.
The rare sight appears every time a record-setting submarine in the bay recedes to reveal the bottom, and large ropes that are supposed to be used as cover for Occurrent’s experimental turbine Power.
The company, formerly BigMoon Power, was planning to move the anchor to a test site on the other side of the Minas Basin. But last week, news broke that the company filed for bankruptcy.
That left the community wondering if the company’s $20,000 deposit to the district would be enough to pay for a proper cleanup.
Meanwhile, the box car disappears under the water every time the water comes in, rising six meters from the port.
An accident waiting to happen, the resident says
“There’s nothing out there right now to show where these bags are,” said Barb Gould, a recreationist who fishes in the area with her husband.
“To get out of the port and into the main water, you have to go through them or around them… I’m afraid there will be an accident.”
He said he is asking the provincial Department of Natural Resources, the Coast Guard and Transport Canada to take action on the fraudulent dumping.
As he looked at the site from a local park, retiree Ron Burbidge said he was annoyed by the debris and the power plant appearing on his display.
“It’s free government money, if you ask me,” he said, referring to the millions of dollars provided by local and federal governments.
The waves that raise the world’s highest waves are so powerful that they have largely destroyed decades of work aimed at harnessing their awesome power.
Tidal power failure
In Nov. 22, 2016, politicians and local leaders gathered on the other side of the Minas Basin for a low-key celebration that saw the first turbine flow in North America connecting to Nova Scotia’s electricity grid.
There have been many failures since then.
In 2018, Paris-based Naval Energies decided to withdraw funding from Dublin-based OpenHydro, the main sponsor of Nova Scotia’s Cape Sharp Tidal Project. The company left a 1,300-ton tidal turbine on the sea floor and has not moved since.
Last year, Sustainable Marine Energy – based in the United Kingdom – also closed, expecting a loss of more than $ 30 million.
Burbidge said he’s worried taxpayers will be stuck with the elimination bill.
“I think they should go out and take the train…. They should be taken out of there before somebody does something,” he said.
Tory Rushton, Nova Scotia’s economy minister, said the provincial government “will review how we approach this” when asked last week about the car removal.
Transport Canada spokesman Hicham Ayoun said in an email that the government department has determined that the vehicles “may pose a risk to mariners navigating in the area.”
Likewise, the Coast Guard has issued a shipping warning and plans to use precautionary measures to mark the bags, he said.
Officials with the incident did not respond to emails or texts seeking an interview.
Fisher urges NS to do ‘the right thing’
Darren Porter, a fisherman and conservationist who gave Occurrent permission to use his land to bring trucks to the port, said he wants the county to act.
At low tide, standing next to a large chain hanging from a railroad car, he warned that disaster was almost inevitable if he if nothing is done.
“This should be a temporary thing… Now they are here, with no plans to move them… someone could get hurt or die,” he said.
“I hope that the district will step up and do the right thing and remove these things from here or take us and our offer to move them. [to the harbour] and build a ship at Walton, let us go forward in a good, educated and wise way.”
Meanwhile, Gould says he’s still making calls to see if warning cars can be installed as a plan for permanent exemptions. He said: “I think they all give it to each other.
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