Tignish residents fear they may never again be able to use beach due to sludge dumping
Province says there's no evidence of garbage beyond what typically washes up on shore
Some Tignish residents are still unhappy about how materials dredged from a local harbour were dumped onto Myrick Shore Beach this past March.
Back when it was first deposited, Tignish resident Jamie Perry thought the sludge could contain metals and motor oils. It certainly smelled like sewage, he told CBC News.
"My neighbour … has to close her windows across the road [when] the wind gets blowing east," Perry said at the time. "So, it's not good. It smells like… rotten sewer."
But now he's more concerned about what's in the sludge, especially when he walks his dog on the beach.
"He cut his paw on something sharp last week... a piece of metal or something that's in there, but he will be OK."
Perry said the sludge has hardened, and now looks like concrete.
"It changed a bit. It's got covered by sand; that's about all it's doing. It's not really deteriorating — if it is, very slowly. I hope we get a big hurricane to wash it away...
"We may never be able to use this beach again. It might just stay like this. It doesn't look like it's going anywhere fast."
'It's obviously not good'
Perry isn't the only one who is still unhappy.
Jamie Lee Chaisson grew up in Tignish, near the beach. She said she has found scraps of metal, glass and garbage among the sludge as well.
"They found, like, a drone. It's just honestly a bunch of metal, it seems like whatever was thrown overboard at the wharf… It's everywhere — it's metal, it's plastic, it's not obviously good."
Chaisson said the area is now covered with sand, but the sludge is still visible.
"It honestly looks like an asphalt ground. When you get closer to the water, obviously you can't see it as much, but up toward the cape, it's just a whole lot of black, looks like asphalt. Then you get closer and it's just hard and smells," she said.
Province's response
In response to questions from CBC News, the P.E.I. government sent an email saying the dredging was done under the auspices of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans small craft harbours division.
The statement said a provincial watercourse and buffer zone alteration permit was issued to let the material be disposed of on the Tignish beach to eventually wash away into the sea. But first, the province said, the material was tested and found to be free of contamination.
"The province did an inspection about six weeks ago and there was no evidence of garbage present more than... the expected typical wash-up of material on other beaches," the statement said in part. "The material was placed in the intertidal zone, exposing the material to the changing high and low tides."
The province said it would be willing to send staff to take another look at the area to assess the situation.
Fewer people walking the beach
Chaisson said she doesn't think Myrick Shore Beach will be the same as it was before the dredging for a long time to come.
"With the amount that's still here and as hard as it is, I honestly think it will just be here unless they start to dig it up, which they probably won't do either. So I'd say it will probably be here for quite a while."
Both Perry and Chaisson said this has resulted in fewer people visiting the beach so far this season.
"This was a big, big tourist attraction... Last summer, before this was all happening, this beach was crowded with people, people were walking their dogs all the time. This is a beach that a lot of people come walk to find sea glass," Chaisson said.
"You can still do it, but like do you want to smell that? Probably not."
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With files from Connor Lamont