One of the buildings cited as a reason for removing lightkeepers from two lightstations on the west coast of Vancouver Island has not been occupied for several years, says a critic of the Canadian Coast Guard’s plan.
An engineer’s report singled out a duplex at Pachena Point lightstation as having an unacceptable earthquake risk level.
Long-term use of the residence is not recommended without slope-stabilization work, it said.
However, that building was last occupied about five years ago, former lightkeeper Jim Abram said Friday. “Everybody has agreed for years … [it was] probably not a good idea to live in it. It’s a heritage building so they’ve just left it.”
Lightkeepers live in other residences at Pachena, Abram said.
BGC Engineering Inc., which submitted slope and ground stability reports in February for Pachena and Carmanah Point lightstations, raised similar concerns about the permanent lightkeeper’s residence at Carmanah to the south.
The Carmanah report advised against using the main lightkeeper’s residence for long-term accommodation without mitigation work.
BGC recommended the existing assistant lightkeeper’s residence at Carmanah become the primary lightkeeper’s home until mitigation measures were completed.
Accommodations at the station for temporary lightkeepers and park rangers were deemed to have “tolerable to broadly acceptable” risk levels, the report said.
The reports estimated that in the event of an earthquake, the ground would drop by at least 15 centimetres below the principal lightkeeper’s house at Carmanah Point lightstation, and by the same amount below the Pachena duplex. In each case, the structures would collapse.
The engineering firm recommended the federal government consider geohazards that could affect lightkeepers at all lightstations in B.C.
The coast guard cited the technical reports when it announced in late July that it would remove lightkeepers from the two stations because of safety concerns.
After reading the reports, Abram said he concluded that the coast guard’s decision to remove staff from the lightstations was a “complete overreaction.”
“When you examine the reports in details, you will see there are many options that do not require the removal of staff.”
Opponents of the destaffing plan fear that once the lightkeepers are gone, they will never return and that keepers from other stations will be removed as well. They want destaffing to be paused while consultation is carried out.
Mariners off the Island’s west coast rely on lightkeepers to provide up-to-date weather forecasts, said Abram, who noted that in recent weeks, automated equipment, including the light at Carmanah and radio traffic reports, has temporarily gone out of service.
“The only way you are going to get an absolutely certain understanding of what the weather is doing at any spot on the coast is from a human being.”
Lightkeepers issue regular weather reports and are happy to supply weather information to mariners who call in, he said.
Destaffing is expected to be raised at the standing committee on fisheries and oceans’ meeting on Wednesday in Ottawa, said Abram, who has been lobbying federal representatives to keep the lightstations staffed.
Life-long fisherman Bob Fraumeni, founder of Finest at Sea Ocean Products Ltd. in James Bay, is another opponent of removing lightkeepers from the stations.
Fraumeni said if he’s fishing off the Island’s west coast, his might be the only boat within 300 kilometres.
For fishermen, having staffed lightstations is a “comfort thing,” he said.
“You are not the only one that’s out there on the edge of the world.”
Lightkeepers are expected to move out of the two stations by the end of the month, Abram said. Staff have accepted positions at two other stations, the coast guard has said.
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