Have any old flares to dispose of?
No, we’re not talking about old jeans, sparkles or bangles. These are the emergency flares kept in your boat. And they need to be replaced every four years.
On Saturday, April 15, the Saanich Peninsula Power and Sail Squadron (SPPSS) is offering to collect your old flares and dispose of them — for free. Squadron Communications Officer Blaine Bey says they held their first Flare Disposal Day in 2016 and collected more than 3,900 expired flares.
“The oldest one we received was from the 1960s,” he said. “The family that brought it in said (the flare) had been in their grandpa’s garage for years and they didn’t know what to do with it.”
Bey added people sometimes will take them to local fire departments or police stations, but they should be taking to disposal events like theirs — or local businesses to will recycle them for a fee. Fire halls and police stations no longer take them, he said.
Saturday’s event, Bey reminded, is free. Donations to the Squadron will be accepted, but he said they won’t be asking.
By law, Bey continued, operators of vessels that are under power or sail require to have flares. The larger the vessel, he said, the more flares. Smaller, hand-powered boats like canoes and kayaks do not require them, Bey said.
The collection and disposal program has been going on through Transport Canada for years, Bey said, and has trickled down to Power and Sail Squadrons across the country. This is the local Squadron’s second annual event.
Bey said they take in the expired flares — which are generally not volatile at all — and ship them in special containers back to the manufacturer. In this case, he said they go to CIL/Orion in eastern Canada, where they are recycled. And, no, they do not set any of them off — doing so in a non-emergency setting is illegal, Bey said.
Bey added since there are a lot of marinas around the Saanich Peninsula, that means there’s a lot of boats — and potentially a whole bunch of expired emergency flares. He’s hoping this Saturday’s collection will make another big dent in that number.
Free flare disposal day takes place from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at All Bay Marine Ltd. at 2204 Harbour Road in Sidney.