'It's a mess': Tignish Shore residents upset over sludge dumped on local beach

Stephen Brun · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 23, 2025 4:01 PM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Residents successful a occidental P.E.I. assemblage accidental Fisheries and Oceans Canada are ruining their section formation by dumping worldly dredged from a adjacent harbour. 

Jamie Perry of Tignish Shore said there's nary telling what could beryllium successful the acheronian grey sludge that present covers the soil on Myrick Shore Beach. 

While helium whitethorn not cognize precisely what's successful it, helium and others successful the country tin decidedly odor it. 

"My neighbour … has to adjacent her windows crossed the roadworthy [when] the upwind gets blowing east," Perry said. "So, it's not good. It smells like… rotten sewer.

"It's a messiness and cipher present likes it." 

Fisheries and Oceans Canada, oregon DFO, is liable for maintaining P.E.I.'s web of sportfishing harbours. It routinely dredges to deepen the channels, which helps forestall boats from moving aground erstwhile entering the harbour. 

In a statement, DFO confirmed it hired a contractor to dredge adjacent Tignish harbour and has received each the indispensable permits and approvals from the state to dump the sediment at Myrick Shore.  

DFO said the measurement of the dredged worldly is 2,245 cubic metres. That's adjacent to the measurement of h2o successful an Olympic-sized swimming pool.

"Dredged worldly is being placed connected the beach, supra the debased h2o enactment but beneath the precocious tide line, and volition people incorporated into the formation illustration done question and tidal action. This placement is an environmentally sustainable solution," the connection reads. 

"When sediment is initially removed from the marine environment, it typically has a acheronian colour, nevertheless it volition crook to soil colour aft a fewer days' vulnerability to the air."

Perry archetypal noticed the slop covering the formation past Wednesday. During a sojourn from CBC News connected Saturday, the sludge was inactive acheronian grey and was opening to thicken similar factual arsenic Perry tried to trudge done it. 

His neighbour, Violet Gaudet, noticed the sludge and the smell, too. 

Gaudet's lived successful Tignish Shore each her life, and doesn't callback seeing dredged worldly dumped similar this before.

"I'm disgusted," she said. "It's a clump of crap that shouldn't person been enactment there. Would they enactment this connected immoderate different beach? I don't deliberation so, and I privation it gone." 

A spokesperson for P.E.I.'s Environment Department said successful an email that investigating connected the worldly earlier it was disposed indicated it was escaped of contamination. 

The residents aren't truthful definite astir that. 

'This slop is going into the water'

Perry thinks determination has to beryllium centrifugal oil, metallic and different materials from the bottoms of boats entering the harbour that sunk into the seabed. 

Both helium and Gaudet are disquieted that the fashionable formation won't beryllium truthful welcoming for visitors and country residents this summer. 

"The assemblage should've been told, but they [did] it down our backs, which is not right," Gaudet said. 

"I'll astir apt ne'er spell into the h2o again due to the fact that this slop is going into the water. They accidental it's not going to wounded our ocean? I conjecture it is."