Canadian Armed Forces to carry out multiple demolition exercises in the Westshore this week

Beginning Tuesday, sites along the Westshore will be used for demolition and controlled destruction projects carried out by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). 

The land-based demolition range at Bentinck Island will be in use from 9am to 4pm daily by the CAF from Tuesday, July 23 to Friday, July 26 and again on Monday, July 29.

Bentinck Island is near Rocky Point off the southern tip of Vancouver Island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The site is used as an above-water terrestrial demolition range by the CAF.

The remoteness of the island was capitalized on when it was in use, in the 1940s, as a leper colony. 

Demolition training exercises, typically carried out with combat engineers and explosives team members, will likely involve similar controlled detonations as are shown in a Canadian Forces training video from 2013. 

According to that video, military demolitions are classified as either “preliminary” or “reserve” targets. Preliminary demolition targets do not interfere with a military’s planned tactical movements. These targets may include craters, bridges, and culverts, hill cuts, trees and buildings. Reserve demolition targets are specifically controlled demolitions based on terrain features. They play a vital part in the military’s tactical plans. 

In their media release, the CAF said training events like these “are critical to ensure military members gain core skills and maintain operational readiness.” They say local residents will likely be unaware of the activities “except on days when atmospheric conditions affect how far sound may travel.”

However, the same may not be true for other land and marine animals in the area. The site is very close to Race Rocks Ecological Reserve. Assurances are being made by the CAF that their training events are guided by strict mitigation measures and procedures to limit acoustic impacts to marine mammals.

The closest sound comparison to explosive demolitions might be fireworks. 

Researchers at Curtin University in Australia found that sea lions along the coastline of Chile changed their breeding season as a result of New Year’s fireworks. In California, July fireworks displays were associated with a decline of Brandt’s cormorant colonies. And Spanish fireworks festivals have been linked to lower breeding success among house sparrows.

Frequently recorded animals at Race Rock that could be impacted by the training on Bentinck Island include murrelets, great blue herons, kingfishers, humpback whales, elephant seals, pelicans, sea and river otters.

The Fleet Diving Unit (Pacific) will also be conducting administrative destruction this week at the Rocky Point destruction range in Metchosin between Beecher Bay and Pedder Bay during these dates. The CAF release warns residents may notice an increase in noise in the surrounding areas while the range is in use and that unauthorized persons may not enter this area and trespassing is prohibited.

Finally, training will also be carried out this week at the Whirl Bay Underwater Demolition Range on the south shore of Rocky Point in the Metchosin District. 

The CAF say, in their release, they have engaged an expert third party marine mammal observer to advise military staff when the range is clear of whales prior to demolitions. They say detonation events will be delayed “if whales are observed in or transiting towards the range, and activities do not re-commence until the Marine Mammal Observer provides the all-clear.”

These are not the only Canadian Forces demolition exercises to be carried out in the CRD. 

A demolition project to remove Pat Bay Building 17 by Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt was approved in January by the Department of National Defence (DND). Constructed in the 1940s, PB 17, the 2,200-square-metre building comprises a hangar area, maintenance shops and storage rooms. It’s not clear from the DND website when the demolition will take place.