The owner of the private property uphill from December’s deadly landslide in Lions Bay has issued a public statement on the incident.
Steve Vestergaard directed CTV News to the statement, which was published on social media Friday.
It begins by noting that longtime residents David and Barbara Enns – who were killed when their home was swept away by the Dec. 14 slide – were friends of his.
“The loss of the Enns is very personal to me,” the statement reads.
“The four neighbors north of Magnesia were our own little community. We built the bridge to our side of Magnesia as neighbors. David cut down trees as Barbara stacked branches to clear for it. Barbara entertained us and senior highways staff in her home when we planned for the bridge.”
Since the slide, some Lions Bay residents have raised questions about what was going on upstream of Battani Creek, north of the Enns’ home.
A reservoir and dam are located on Vestergaard’s property, where a development called Lions Point Elite Homes has been proposed.
Project documents obtained by CTV News state that a large amount of blasting had been done in the area.
In his statement, however, Vestergaard says he is not a developer and the reservoir is for his private home.
“My reservoir was constructed and licensed in 1987 by the previous owner of my property,” the statement reads. “When I began to upgrade in 2014, there was a stop work order. I immediately resolved it.”
The statement goes on to assert that the source of the Dec. 14 slide was “far down the hill” from Vestergaard’s “engineered works,” which were not involved in the incident.
Sea to Sky RCMP have said they’re investigating the landslide, which is unusual, according to SFU earth sciences professor emeritus John Clague, who told CTV News earlier this month that police don’t investigate natural phenomena, but would be interested if the slide had been triggered by human activity.
Police have not shared any details of their investigation, nor have they accused anyone of any wrongdoing.
Vestergaard’s statement notes that the landslide occurred during a “bomb cyclone” wind storm that struck the Lower Mainland that day, knocking down trees and knocking out power in the Lions Bay area.
“Imagine the trees are anchored to the bedrock by a foot of dry dirt now being lubricated into mud,” the statement reads. “Suddenly the soil was pelted with rain and the trees were faced with hurricane force winds … The weight of hundreds of logs lubricated by mud on a steep slope – this is a tragedy that no human could have prevented.”
The statement also shares a report by Cordilleran Geoscience, which was prepared for the Village of Lions Bay in 2018. According to Vestergaard, the report identifies the location of the deadly Dec. 14 slide as a potential slide risk.
“I call on the provincial government to provide funds to address the recommendations identified in (this) report or this will keep happening,” the statement reads. “I have read through the report and as of today, no one has attempted to address the inevitable next slide above Lions Bay.”
With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Ben Nesbit
