West Vancouver trail trespassers put themselves, vulnerable sewage line at risk: officials

Officials in West Vancouver say unscrupulous hikers are putting themselves and a delicate interim sewer line at risk by sneaking into a closed section of a popular trail.

The District of West Vancouver says a landslide in the Capilano canyon on Jan. 6 took out a section of the Capilano Pacific Trail, nearly breaking open an active sewer line in the process.

“It was essentially hanging out into the canyon. We were really lucky not to have a spill of raw sewage,” District of West Vancouver spokesperson Donna Powers told Global News.

“Between January and now, the erosion on the slope has continued and it is extremely unsafe.”

The slide occurred on the West Vancouver side of the canyon, not far south of the suspension bridge. The trail is now closed from that area down to the Upper Levels Highway.

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The district has put up fences at both ends of the closure along with clear signage. Neither appear to have stopped hikers from accessing the trail anyway.

“It’s completely impassable, and the slope above and below is extremely unstable, so if anyone thinks they can traverse the slope, they’re really putting themselves at risk and worse, they’re putting first responders at risk,” Powers said.

Even more alarming, at least one person has used a temporary sewage pipe, strung across the caved-in section of the trail, as a “tight rope” to cross the gap, Powers said.

Doing so bent the pipe and disconnected it, once again nearly causing a raw sewage spill.

“It’s a crazy daredevil act. I can’t even imagine why someone would think that would be OK,” she said.

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District of West Vancouver utilities manager Andy Kwan said the trail closure is expected to last for the foreseeable future due to the complex geotechnical risks and the potential need to completely re-engineer the sewage line.

“We’re looking at whether the whole area is actually stable, such that if we actually put this back, would the rest of the trail, somewhere along the line fail again,” he said.

“Just to put this back is massive. The solution is not easy. We’re talking about putting up walls, shipping in tons and tons of rocks, we’re talking about putting a bridge across. None of that is easy, none of that is cheap.”

Kwan said the district may need to install a pumping station to address risks to the sewage line.

Powers said repairs to the trail could take between six months and a year, and come with a multi-million dollar price tag.