A plan to clean contaminants out of Kingston’s inner harbour led by the federal government is causing frustration with local organizations.
Bob Clark, contracts manager of MetalCraft Marine told Global News Friday that the federal government’s plan to clean the inner harbour has the potential to close them down.
“They’re not gonna shut us down without a hell of a fight. There’s no way they’re putting people out of work to clean up stuff that should be left alone,” said Clark.
He says contaminants in the area vary and the harbour near the site of his business actually is not as chemically filled as other areas.
“Up by Belle Island and where the tannery used to be — those are the major concentration, and as you work your way closer to the Causeway Bridge, it becomes less and less,” said Clark.
Mary Farrar, president of Friends of the Inner Harbour, told Global News in March that while chemicals are in the waterways because of Kingston’s industrial past, it’s best to leave things alone.
“It might just cause a worse problem to try and dig it up because it would bring all of these things up again and have them floating in the water,” said Farrar.
Earlier this month, Kingston city council deferred a motion to direct staff to start collaborating with federal agencies on the initiative.
City council has also invited the federal representatives to speak to a city committee about the plan. Things are still in limbo as all parties wait for direction from Transport Canada.
MetalCraft Marine has been operating for 33 years, and Clark expresses frustration with the communication from the federal government.
“It’s horrendous. This is the poorest thing I’ve seen come out of Transport Canada, and I’ve seen some poor things. It’s misaligned, they don’t know what they’re doing.”
Global News reached out to Transport Canada but didn’t receive a statement before deadline.