Cleanup crews made short work of a large encampment off Terminal Ave., overlooking the Millstone River (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Alex Rawnsley

major cleanup

Troublesome Nanaimo encampment being cleared out along Terminal Ave.

Aug 1, 2023 | 12:55 PM

NANAIMO — The site of a shooting earlier this year is now the site of a large-scale clean-up operation.

An encampment on the bank running along Terminal Ave., overlooking the Millstone River, was dismantled on Tuesday, Aug. 1 and a large amount of garbage was thrown away by City of Nanaimo crews, with support from provincial environment and transportation ministries.

Dave Laberge, city manager of bylaw services, told NanaimoNewsNOW this encampment location is a popular one and grows substantially every year until crews can conduct annual, or more frequent, clean-ups.

“It’s quite inaccessible particularly in the winter because it’s really steep and gets really wet so the officers don’t get in as often particularly in the winter months as other areas to clean up, so it gives them a certain element of permanency and the longer that they stay, the more it grows and the messier it gets.”

A tow truck on Terminal Ave. helped bring larger items up the steep embankment. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

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Crews on site Tuesday were shuttling out multiple bags of garbage, with a lane of Terminal Ave. closed off near the encampment to afford extra room to work.

Propane tanks, fire extinguishers, building materials and other items were among those packaged up, including a mattress and a heavy wooden door.

Laberge said they’ve been through the camp repeatedly and are confident little of value remains, however they will still sort through what is collected to identify any potentially stolen property.

“If [the contractors] see anything that looks like it’s hazardous, particularly weapons or these types of things, they’ve got to stop, halt and then we’ll call the police and they can go and make sure it’s safe and there isn’t anything of evidentiary value from past incidents.”

Crews blocked one lane of southbound traffic along Terminal Ave. in order to use a tow-truck during Tuesday’s operations. (Jordan Davidson/NanaimoNewsNOW)

Laberge added aside from the high-profile shooting incident, the area is of great concern to local residents.

Despite sitting largely vacant for the last few weeks, the property is a known trouble area and was home to upwards of 30 or 40 people at any given time.

“The blight, the fire hazard, that bank is quite prominent in view to the residents that live along Barsby on the other side of the river so they have to look at it.”

Clean-ups of the area typically occur in the spring, according to Laberge, however the March shooting and subsequent issues around the investigation had police requesting City crews to keep their distance.

A green light was given just under two months ago, with the City coordinating different stakeholders.

The ministry of transportation and infrastructure said they have committed funds to assist in the cleanup, and the City, along with the RCMP, local bylaw and contractors are formulating a plan to clean up and remediate the area.

It’s expected the clean-up, which is scheduled to take three days beginning Tuesday, Aug. 1 will cost over $25,000 however Laberge said the City is in over $50,000 when staff time is factored in.

Nanaimo RCMP officers were also on-scene Tuesday morning.

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