Free-for-all on the ice?

Sinking trailer on the river, a hot-potato

At least one ice-fishing enthusiast is in over his head, having abandoned his camper-trailer on the melting Ottawa River just west of the Pontiac-Aylmer boundary.

“This spring, three trailers started to sink; they managed to save two. The third -- they tried, but it’s a 16X18 foot travel trailer. There’s 20% of the trailer still showing, but it’s too late. No one should be on the river now, once it is opening up,” said one Ottawa River shoreline homeowner. According to this resident, this is not the first trailer to go under.

“Different people put structures out on the ice, and sometimes they have problems. Two years ago someone left a construction trailer out, just at the foot of Terry Fox Road.

 

“We saw him park it and visit it a couple times. For two to three months, no activity, and when spring came, it sank. They weren’t attentive,” said the Queen’s Park resident. “I tried enquiring through the city, but they were no help.”

According to the Ottawa Riverkeeper, this situation repeats itself nearly every spring.

“We heard of one trailer sinking this spring, but I’m sure there are many. We are still finding debris from the log-driving days. So if a few trailers sink, they accumulate, and today the bottom of the river is practically a dump,” said Adèle Michon, with the Ottawa Riverkeeper.

“And everyone is passing the buck. On the Quebec side, no one is stepping up to take responsibility. We can’t tell who is responsible,” continued Michon.

Dominic Labrie, with the Municipality of Pontiac (MoP), reported that the MoP has filed a complaint with the Ministry of Environment to deal with the situation out on the melting ice.

“We have intervened to retrieve washed-up structures, but we don’t have the equipment or the proper staff. It’s too dangerous, and it’s outside our jurisdiction,” he told the Bulletin.

One Pontiac resident opined that Québec’s Ministry of Environment would not intervene or remove the sinking trailer.

“Quebec might need stricter regulations because, across the river, all units that go out on the ice need to be registered. On the Quebec side, it’s very difficult to even locate the owner,” said Michon.

Mr Labrie said that adopting such a registration model for the MoP would prove too costly. “Certain municipalites use permits to control the situation, but we would become responsible and we don’t have the resources to manage ice-fishing villages,” ed said. “The MoP focuses on prevention. At spring thaw, we issue notices advising people to retrieve their structures. The one on the river now had sunk and was frozen into the ice before our warning.”

No jurisdiction seems willing to retrieve sinking shacks from the river.

According to the Aylmer Ottawa River resident, “if that structure goes under, someone will hook it because it’s a good-size shack. When the water level goes down this summer, it will be near the shore.”

Quebec’s local Ministry of Environment did not return the Bulletin’s calls.