# WW II bomb fears force closure of B.C. beach



## AJFitzpatrick (9 May 2012)

Just in time for the May long weekend

"Part of Pacific Rim National Park on the west coast of Vancouver Island has been closed to the public because bombs left over from the Second World War might be buried in the sand."

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2012/05/08/bc-bombs-vancouver-island.html

Judging on how fast any federal government has been on cleaning their messes up I am not optimistic ...


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## Colin Parkinson (9 May 2012)

Now just imagine if they found it to be a Japanese Mortar bomb! "The Secret battle for Tofino". You could start a "wiki-rumour"  :nod:


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## Rifleman62 (9 May 2012)

Well a Jap sub did shell the BC coast.


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## aesop081 (9 May 2012)

AJFitzpatrick said:
			
		

> Judging on how fast any federal government has been on cleaning their messes up I am not optimistic ...



Well, you can only start to deal with something like this when it comes up.

Further, there will be all kinds of things like environmental assesments that will need to be done before clean up can begin. That will require studies and endless consultations with everyone who somehow has a stake in the area.

If only a government could streamline the process to get cleanups done in a timely manner.

Oh wait, thats bad too, right ?


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## TN2IC (9 May 2012)

I wonder if FDU(P) was called in? Any source?


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## aesop081 (9 May 2012)

Macey said:
			
		

> I wonder if FDU(P) was called in? Any source?



Maybe. However, FDU(P) is not the only EOD-capable unit on the the island ready to respond to things like this.


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## AmmoTech90 (9 May 2012)

Well if it is military ordnance (Canadian or foreign, current or vintage) the military will deal with it.  Civilian agencies (not under contract to DND) cannot dispose of military ordnance.  As CA said it could be FDU(P) or another unit.

Believe it or not, the CF does have a vague concept of how to respond to such an incident, and we do so regularly.


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## daftandbarmy (9 May 2012)

If it's in Tofino, that should read 'Bong' not 'Bomb' to be more accurate. ;D


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## Retired AF Guy (9 May 2012)

AJFitzpatrick said:
			
		

> Just in time for the May long weekend
> 
> "Part of Pacific Rim National Park on the west coast of Vancouver Island has been closed to the public because bombs left over from the Second World War might be buried in the sand."
> 
> ...



I don't know about you, but doing EOD on 50 year-old ordnance isn't something I would want to rush into with out some planning and preparation.


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## AJFitzpatrick (9 May 2012)

It's not so much the delay in action required to clean up the 50 year old ordinance but the fact that there was 50 years without anything being done to clean it up that is the major source of my annoyance.  Out of sight, out of mind.


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## AmmoTech90 (9 May 2012)

AJFitzpatrick said:
			
		

> It's not so much the delay in action required to clean up the 50 year old ordinance but the fact that there was 50 years without anything being done to clean it up that is the major source of my annoyance.  Out of sight, out of mind.



You realize that it is literally out of sight as in buried.  It's funny but theres this thing called geological activity that brings things to the surface over time.  You seem to think that there is some great big conspiracy.  Take off the tin foil and wake up, stuff happens, its part of being human.


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## AJFitzpatrick (9 May 2012)

No conspiracy thoughts here at all, thank you very much for telling me what I think. Crap does happen that is not attributable to some evil intent and I recognize that, it still doesn't lessen my annoyance level at the years of inaction for whatever reason. The locals at least didn't forget the use the dunes as a range, even as they used it themselves for the same purpose. 

50 years is a short time for institutional memory to fade which is sad if that is what the given excuse for the lack of previous clean up. Tell me that a cleanup was not a priority in 1970 when it became a national park; don't tell me that the use of the ground as a range was forgotten about. 

I think I'm done on this. The fact that the site is now closed for the foreseeable future is a disappointment even as I recognize the need for same.


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## Strike (9 May 2012)

AJFitzpatrick said:
			
		

> 50 years is a short time for institutional memory to fade which is sad if that is what the given excuse for the lack of previous clean up. Tell me that a cleanup was not a priority in 1970 when it became a national park; don't tell me that the use of the ground as a range was forgotten about.



Federal and provincial laws governing the use of land and environmental regulations back then were nothing compared to what they are now.  Being annoyed that someone 50 years ago did not do a proper clean-up, using today's standards, is just silly.  They followed the regulations at the time and everyone was happy with it.


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## AJFitzpatrick (10 May 2012)

Strike said:
			
		

> Federal and provincial laws governing the use of land and environmental regulations back then were nothing compared to what they are now.  Being annoyed that someone 50 years ago did not do a proper clean-up, using today's standards, is just silly.  They followed the regulations at the time and everyone was happy with it.




Point conceded, I have no idea what standards in the 1960s -70s were and I will accept on good faith that they were met.
Sorry if I 'm belabouring this, I was just on the Dunes in September of last year


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## Colin Parkinson (10 May 2012)

There are whole ships that appear and disappear on a regular basis along the coastlines due to shifting sand. Pretty easy to miss a mortar bomb. Hasting's Park in Vancouver was an artillery range once, even North Vancouver had a 1,000 yard range and a grenade range at one point. Attitudes were different back then. People were expected to act somewhat responsible for themselves and not kick unexploded bombs.


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## Journeyman (10 May 2012)

Colin P said:
			
		

> People were expected to act somewhat responsible for themselves...


      That's just crazy talk


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## GAP (10 May 2012)

Colin P said:
			
		

> There are whole ships that appear and disappear on a regular basis along the coastlines due to shifting sand. Pretty easy to miss a mortar bomb. Hasting's Park in Vancouver was an artillery range once, even North Vancouver had a 1,000 yard range and a grenade range at one point. Attitudes were different back then. People were expected to act somewhat responsible for themselves and not kick unexploded bombs.



That's how the Darwin Awards came about.....


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## sandyson (10 May 2012)

"Nothing new!"  Ordnance washed up on the beaches of Hudson Bay near Churchill Man.  New Viking staff  in the '70's picked them up, transported them to a holding area, where they were periodically disposed of.  I recall placing an old safe on a pile just to see how high it would go.  Us foolish?  No way.  I understand that ordnance also washes up on the beaches of the lower North Shore--St Lawrence.  World War II ordnance will probably keep washing ashore for years to come on much of the coast of the country, just as World War I ordnance still rises to the surface in France and Belgium.


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## Colin Parkinson (10 May 2012)

The forbidden forest

http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/4397

Meanwhile back at the Europeon farm

http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/showthread.php?82256-World-War-1-artifacts-Champagne-France


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## AmmoTech90 (10 May 2012)

2" HE from this pic: http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2012/05/20120509-092433.html


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