QUEBEC CITY – The Canadian Coast Guard wishes to inform people living in the area downstream of the Laviolette Bridge in Trois-Rivières and on the shores of Lake St. Pierre, and persons using these areas, that spring icebreaking operations will begin on the north and south shores for the Lake St. Pierre, Bécancour and Gentilly areas on or around Saturday, March 1, 2008.
The purpose of this yearly operation is to dislodge ice at the mouths of the tributaries in order to prevent ice jams and flooding that can result from the spring break-up. The icebreaker CCGS Martha L. Black and the Coast Guard hovercraft Waban-Aki and Sipu Muin will carry out the operation.
Owners of facilities on the ice should move them safely ashore. The Coast Guard strongly recommends that pedestrians, fishers and snowmobilers get off the ice when they see the icebreaker or hovercraft in the immediate area. The ice may move, and this may create a real danger for anyone in the area.
CCGS Martha L. Black has a red hull with a transverse white band and a white funnel bearing a maple leaf. The Waban-Aki and the Sipu Muin are air-cushion vehicles whose engines produce a noise similar to an aircraft.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Nathalie Letendre
Communications Advisor
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Quebec Region
418-649-6297
