Victoria Gorge oil spill renews calls for action on derelict boats

There are new calls for the City of Victoria to take action against derelict and liveaboard boats on the Gorge Waterway, after a sunken vessel near Banfield Park leaked oil on Sunday. 

"We can smell the fuel decaying down here," said neighbour Andrew Chernick. "It's really sad for all the waterfowl that live here — all the ducks. It's kind of hard to see them have to deal with this."

Crews quickly responded to the spill, laying a boom to contain the fuel or oil escaping the boat.

Chernick said it's not the first time wrecked boats have polluted the water in this area. 

• Living on boats to be a thing of the past in Victoria's Gorge

City dragging its feet: former councillor

The city does have a plan to end overnight moorage in the waters, but former Victoria councillor Shellie Gudgeon is outraged it seems to have stalled.

"The dragging of the feet by the city is incredibly disappointing and very discouraging," said Gudgeon. 

Gudgeon was on council in 2014 when the city started to put together a bylaw banning overnight moorage, which was passed in August 2015. 

The city then applied for and received a licence of occupation from the province, which allowed it to enforce the bylaw. 

"[The city] has everything: it has ... designated budget money, it has the public will. I'm stumped," she said.

Bylaw enforcement starting soon

Victoria Mayor Lisa Helps said she shares Gudgeon's concerns, but taking action has proven more complicated.

"This isn't the Wild West," she said. "There are so many different things to consider."

Helps said city staff are working on how to balance protecting the waterway with the boat owners' private property rights, and that court rulings since the bylaw was passed last year may make enforcement more challenging.

"That's something we're actively looking at. We need to make sure we're enforcing enforceable bylaws," said Helps. 

The mayor said enforcement should begin in the New Year.