Milder weather delays tsunami debris headed for B.C. shores

The milder weather patterns in international waters are responsible for a delay in the wave of tsunami debris that was expected to hit B.C. beaches.

About 1.5 million tones of material is still floating in the Pacific Ocean after the March 2011 tsunami in Japan.

Officials have predicted that much of that debris would end up on B.C. shores by this summer.

But so far, we haven’t seen as much debris as expected because weather conditions have pushed the trash back into the ocean.

The next wave is expected to start coming ashore this fall when the weather changes.

It is unclear how much of the 1.5 million tons of tsunami debris has arrived on the west coast of North America, and how much is still headed our way.

But up until now, any cleanup efforts in the province have been funded by local governments or volunteers.

The B.C. government is finally getting ready to distribute some of the one million dollars the Japanese government pledged to help with Canadian debris cleanup.

And though both the province and Ottawa say they have reallocated a few hundred thousand dollars in existing resources, they aren’t actually putting new funds into cleanup efforts.

Elaine Yong reports.