Beauharnois : the dismantling of the ship, “Kathryn Spirit” has begun

Photo Axel Marchand-Lamothe

QMI agency

Tuesday, 27-feb-2018 10:40

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Tuesday, 27-feb-2018 10:40

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BEAUHARNOIS – The dismantling of the ship, “Kathryn Spirit”, abandoned since 2011 on the shores of lake Saint-Louis in Beauharnois, has begun.

The cutting of the vessel must be completed by the end of the summer, and every trace of the boat should have disappeared by 2019.

The metal recovered during the cutting shall be sold and disposed of responsibly.

Decontamination had been planned for last January. The “Kathryn Spirit” contains many contaminants such as asbestos and PCBS, as well as lead, mercury, cadmium and chromium.

Currently isolated in the lac Saint-Louis with a basin of rocks and a wall of steel built by 2016, the wreck remains a leading environmental risk.

The federal government has granted in October last a contract of $ 11 million to dismantle the wreck of the “Kathryn Spirit”, a ship left since 2011.

A joint venture formed by the companies Encompasses Quebec and Excavation René St-Pierre of Sherbrooke was awarded the contract.

This last company is the one who had placed the old ship in Beauharnois, in 2011. The City had block the dismantling work, for fear of pollution of lake Saint-Louis. Then the ship was sold to a mexican carrier that is in bankruptcy.