An unplanned release of water from North Vancouver’s Cleveland Dam last Thursday that left one man dead and his son still missing was not the first such incident at the facility.
In 2002, four anglers were trapped on a sandbar in the Capilano River, and needed a helicopter rescue after the spillway was accidentally opened, flooding the canyon.
A WorkSafeBC inspection report, published about a month after the June 26 incident, took Metro Vancouver (then called the Greater Vancouver Regional District) to task for the incident, highlighting violations of both the Occupational Health and Safety Regulation and the Workers Compensation Act.
“Given the recent and past history of inadvertent and uncontrolled operations of the spillway gate causing dangerous sudden rises and increased flows in the river, GVRD Parks workers have been put at extra undue risk of injury.”
The 2002 incident wasn’t the first time the dam saw an uncontrolled release of water.
Squamish Nation member Willison William was caught up in an unexpected release from the dam one evening in 1996.
“Just a whole big black visual came down and it sounded like roaring thunder,” he said.
“I basically got swept down about 12 feet, and was close enough to shore to be able to pull myself in.”
The 2002 WorkSafe report made several orders, including the creation of a written lockout policy for the dam’s spillway and conducting a risk assessment to identify all hazards regarding uncontrolled or controlled releases of water from the dam.
The GVRD was also ordered to develop and implement a written policy to reduce or eliminate the hazards identified in the risk assessment.
“These shall include but are not limited to: spillway gate lockout, access to the riverway by workers where lockout is not required … mancheck systems, emergency rescue and evacuation, public warning signage and warning alarms.”
Metro Vancouver did not respond to a request from Global News for the result of the risk assessment or the written policy.
However, WorkSafeBC said the district had complied with all orders relating to the inspection report.
Despite that, Metro Vancouver has acknowledged that no “public facing” warning siren or alert system exists on the dam in the case of an unplanned release of water.
The regional district has so far only said that the dam opened during a maintenance operation, and that it is investigating the circumstances leading up to the tragedy.
The result of that investigation is expected to be released publicly in a report.