With tsunami debris from the 2011 earthquake in Japan arriving on the British Columbia shoreline, applications for funding to help with the clean up are being accepted.

Earlier this year, Japan gave Canada’s federal government a one-time grant of $1 million to help clean up tsunami debris. The B.C. government is administering funds as the clean up is occurring on its shoreline.

“This funding will be used in a targeted, responsible way to keep B.C.’s coastline safe and clean,” says B.C.’s Minister of Environment, Mary Polak. “We are looking forward to receiving proposals so we can get down to business and begin cleaning tsunami debris off our beaches as soon as possible.”

Funding will be available for the next two fiscal years to help with shoreline cleanup efforts and disposal of debris. A portion of the funding will be set aside to cover the possibility of large or potentially dangerous pieces of debris arriving on the province’s shores. The federal-provincial tsunami debris coordinating committee will make funding decisions.