Environmental groups and First Nations are celebrating a “decisive” turning point in the battle to protect the ecology of Baynes Sound, 100 km north of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.
It took years of documenting environmental damage from a commercial shipbreaking operation before the Province finally canceled the company’s ocean access in July 2025.
The Ministry of Water, Land, and Resource Stewardship revoked Deep Water Recovery’s Union Bay water lease “to protect the public interest” after the shipbreaking company failed to comply with more than twenty government orders and warnings over four years.
Comox Valley Regional Director Daniel Arbour, speaking with CHEK News, called the decision “a very decisive action. It’s not very often that they cancel Crown leases.” The Concerned Citizens of Baynes Sound credits the win to the “collective effort” of a grassroots coalition with the K’ómoks First Nation, Tla’amin First Nation, Qualicum First Nation, West Coast Environmental Law, MLA Josie Osborne, and MP Gord Johns.
CCOBS says the waters around Union Bay and Denman Island are “ecologically and biologically significant” for nesting and migrating shorebirds. The area is “vital to the regional shellfish industry, supports robust herring populations, and provides critical habitat for numerous marine species,” according to the group’s website. For more than four years, CCOBS and its lawyers have been raising the alarm about marine demolition spreading hazardous materials like asbestos, mercury, lead, and oil into Baynes Sound.
Ian Munro, president of CCOBS, told CHEK News that group members feel vindicated now that the Province has taken action. “It’s a big step, you know, that we have the government saying this can no longer continue,” he said.
The Concerned Citizens of Baynes Sound credits the win to the “collective effort” of a grassroots coalition.
Along with losing its lease, DWR must pay $72,500 in fines for discharging toxic effluent into Baynes Sound and failing to comply with a Pollution Abatement Order issued by the Province in March 2024. DWR is also required to post a $3.2 million financial security deposit to ensure the cleanup of its waste.
Without a water lease, DWR is not allowed to moor derelict ships offshore or move them onto its waterfront property for dismantling. But it’s not clear whether the company will comply with the order; At press time, photos released by CCOBS showed ships still anchored at the site.
The company faces more repercussions from local government in the coming months. Comox Valley Regional District is pursuing an injunction to permanently prohibit shipbreaking in Union Bay. The Province classes the facility as a commercial waste operation, which is not permitted under the district’s bylaws.
Over the years, relations between the American-owned company and its neighbours were marked by protests and lawsuits. In 2024, company owner Mark Jurisich sued Union Bay resident Mary Reynolds, 73, for punitive damages after she flew a drone over the marine demolition site and shared video evidence of contamination online. Her lawyer, Jason Gratl, contended that Reynolds’ actions were safeguarded by the Protection of Public Participation Act. The court agreed and dismissed that part of DWR’s claim.
Local residents vow to keep pushing for laws to protect marine ecosystems from ship demolition. A statement in The Island Grapevine reads, “The work of environmental protection is far from over. We cannot allow this issue to be relocated to another coastal community. Canada/BC must adopt international shipbreaking regulations.”
