Giant industrial tires wash up on Island beach, raise pollution concern

People living in the Campbell River area are becoming accustomed to massive industrial tires washing ashore on the rocky beaches. Back in 2019, seven enormous tires, each roughly three metres tall, appeared at Shelter Bay, about 15 km south of downtown Campbell River. The tires were fastened together in groups of three and four. Eventually, a government-hired contractor removed them less than a month later, sending them to a recycling facility. The cost was about $1,000. Now, another 10 big industrial tires have washed up, this time along the shoreline south of Shelter Bay. Stories Beach resident Trout Agar watched as the tires got carried by the tide last week, eventually becoming stranded on the beach outside his house. It wasn’t long before the stormy weather caused the styrofoam lining to spill out onto the beach, he said. According to Fisheries and Oceans Canada, two fishery officers attended the site on Oct. 20 and took photographs. However, they were unable to identify the owner of the tires. A DFO spokesperson reported the incident to Emergency Management BC (EMBC), Transport Canada and Environment and Climate Change Canada. EMBC issued a dangerous goods incident report. Greenways Land Trust organized a beach clean-up on Wednesday to remove the styrofoam before the large chunks got churned into tiny pieces, posing a risk to the nearby salmon-bearing creek. The Mirror also reached out to the Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship and had not received a response by press time