The boat launch at the Water Street Wharf will be closed Thursday, June 3, 2021 so the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC) can work on its pier. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)

Boat launch closes June 3 for spill response base construction

Parking lot behind Port Boat House will also be affected

  • Jun. 3, 2021 12:00 a.m.

The Water Street Wharf boat launch in Port Alberni will be closed all day Thursday, June 3 as the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation (WCMRC) works on its marina.

The ramp is located behind Port Boat House, past Harbour Quay. Cranes and other heavy equipment have been trucked and barged in to the area to complete the civil work on the marina.

“This is a one-day closure that will also have the south entrance to the parking lot blocked off,” said David McCormick, Port Alberni Port Authority director of public relations and business development.

The WCMRC has also built a building and compound on land leased from the Port Authority further down Harbour Road. The 73-foot spill response vessel Barkley Sentinel can also be seen docked at Tyee Landing.

READ MORE: Port Alberni WCMRC team learns the spill drill

READ MORE: Spill response vessel arrives in Port Alberni

The oil spill response base is one of several set up on British Columbia’s west coast as part of the TransMountain Pipeline project. The port authority and WCMRC signed a 25-year lease agreement in 2018 for 6.225 acres of land and waterlot areas fronting Port Alberni Harbour. Vessels will eventually moor at the WCMRC pier behind Port Boat House once it is completed.


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Alberni Valley News

 

Once the WCMRC pier is complete, some of the marine spill response vessels will be moored there. The pier is located behind Harbour Quay on Port Alberni’s waterfront. (SUSAN QUINN/ Alberni Valley News)