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The Comox Valley Chamber of Commerce is surveying its members to assess the impact of a recent major sewage spill in the Comox Harbour on Vancouver Island, which resulted in the closure of some beaches and an advisory to stay out of the water in the area.
Tracey Clarke, the chamber’s executive director, said the goal for now is to gather information about the impact to figure out how best to support local businesses and inform future emergency planning.
“Depending on what we hear from businesses in terms of what their experience was during this, then maybe there’s some lessons to be learned,” Clarke said.
“By gathering data directly from the businesses, we can help ensure that future decisions are informed by evidence.”
Clarke said she has heard from local businesses about how the incident affected them in different ways.
On Monday the B.C. Shellfish Growers Association said a closure on shellfish harvesting put in place on the day of the leak had finally been lifted. The organization said the closure had cost its members in Baynes Sound about $40,000 to $50,000 in business every day.
The Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD) lifted the water quality advisory last week, eight days after the spill, saying water quality throughout most of the harbour was back to normal.
“The sampling results indicate that bacteria from the spill did not spread in measurable amounts beyond the immediate area, and has not circulated,” said Charlie Gore, senior manager of capital project delivery, last week.
“We know that many people are eager to get back to the water, in particular the businesses in the area that rely on it – we’re thankful for everyone’s patience during this past week while we monitored for public safety.”
‘So much uncertainty’
Viki Lovemore, manager of Comox Valley Kayaks and Canoes in Courtenay, said rentals came to a standstill as a result of the advisory.
WATCH | Comox crews investigating after 600K litres of raw sewage gushes into ocean:
Comox crews investigating after 600K litres of raw sewage gushes into ocean
Crews in Comox on Vancouver Island are busy mopping up a major sewer break that happened on Tuesday. Now, the regional district says about 600,000 litres of raw sewage was released into the ocean.
“It was just so much uncertainty, and then you’re just preparing for a lot of things that could very much just turn on a dime and then go easy again,” Lovemore said.
“The participants that were scheduled to rent, even though we gave them the choice to take the rental elsewhere, they chose to cancel anyway.”
Some restaurants had to close because the CVRD had issued an advisory to not flush toilets or use water that would contribute to the sewage flows into the ocean.
Such was the case for the Blackfin Pub and Dockside Restaurant, a normally busy business with a view overlooking the Comox Harbour.
Owner Edd Moyes says the pub was full on the day of the leak.
But because no one could use the washroom and the kitchen staff couldn’t use the dishwashers, he had to ask customers to leave and close that day.
Moyes said the pub and restaurant reopened the next day but business was slower than usual for the rest of the week, mainly because of the overwhelming smell of sewage.
The incident followed months of construction related to the sewer pipe that limited access to his parking lot.
“This just puts the nail in the last part of the coffin as far as I’m concerned with this leak,” he said.