How officials plan to get more than 100 abandoned cars off a small Quebec island
Quebec's Entry Island is only about two kilometres wide and three kilometres long, but its collection of dead, abandoned vehicles is nearly double the number of residents who live there year-round.
With at least 116 lifeless wrecks scattered across the grassy, windswept landscape, the situation has gotten out of hand, according to Jonathan Lapierre, mayor of the Magdalen Islands — a small archipelago in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
"It has an impact on the landscape and there's a certain danger for the environment because of the oils and fuel that can leak from the vehicles," he said.
The abandoned cars have been tolerated in the past because it is extremely complex to get rid of so many vehicles, the mayor said.
Entry Island's roughly 60 mostly English-speaking residents may not have far to go, but many still drive to get around, be it to visit the handful of local businesses, see neighbours or visit the local church.
There's also a two-car ferry that connects Entry Island to the rest of the archipelago.
But shipping dead cars out by ferry could take years because space on the high-demand boat is so limited, the mayor said.
Yet shipping the cars out by barge will not be cheap for the small island agglomeration, Lapierre said. The entire operation will cost just over $90,000.
Towed, shipped and trucked
The cars will be towed down to the wharf before being shipped to the wharf on Havre-Aubert — the archipelago's southernmost island — about 12 kilometres away.
From there, the cars will then be trucked about 40 kilometres to an eco-centre on Havre-aux-Maisons to be broken down. Most of the collected metal and parts will then be shipped to the mainland.
A transportation company, Coopérative de Transport Maritime et Aérien (CTMA), has been hired for the job.
"We can load 10 vehicles at a time, or a little more depending on their size, on the deck of a carrier barge," said CTMA spokesperson Vanessa Loignon.
The plan is to complete the operation by Christmas, but it will be the last time public money is invested in cleaning up abandoned vehicles on Entry Island.
The mayor said letters were sent to all the residents, telling them this is a one-time deal, and once the vehicles are removed, it will be up to those who live there to get their dead cars to the scrapyard themselves as per local regulations.
"We will not be able to and we will not have the means to carry out this operation every two years," Lapierre said.
