Alanna Kelly

UPDATE: 3:40 p.m.

After being notified of thousands of decaying sandbags along Okanagan Lake, the City of Kelowna said they will deal with them.

Piles of exploding sandbags have been sitting along the shore near Strathcona Beach after being buried under hundreds of 4,400 lbs concrete blocks.

Now, many of the bags are nearly empty with the sand spewing out of them.

"It is a disaster, there are probably about 15 feet of sandbags flowing towards the water, a lot of them are breaking up," said Brenda Bachmann. "Apparently that sand is toxic."

The sandbags were used as flood protection barriers and the City of Kelowna removed many of the bags, but seems to have missed this area.

"With more than one million bags deployed by Wildfire crews and army we might have lost track of some," said Tom Wilson Communications Manager at City of Kelowna.

The area where the sandbags are lying used to be a public walk way but is now covered in debris, sand and garbage.

Al Janusas, Spokesperson for PLANKelowna said the sands in the bags should not be dumped in the shore or lake but yet the bags are being spilled all over the lake and shore.

"It is a shame, I think the only reason they arranged for the humungous blocks ... was because we brought it to the attention of the city," he said. "Here we are into October and the sandbags still haven't been removed."

Wilson said the sandbags will be dealt with.

"If people notice any in the Central Okanagan they should alert their municipality," he added.

ORIGINAL: 8 a.m.

Thousands of decaying sandbags used for flood protection on Okanagan Lake have been found sitting along the foreshore.

A Kelowna resident found the graveyard of used sandbags between Strathcona Park and Francis Avenue.

“This is the public walkway between Strathcona Park and Francis Avenue,” said Brenda Bachmann. “Wonder who is cleaning up the thousands of sandbags and when?”

City of Kelowna said that the recovery effort for sandbags has ended.

BC Wildfire crews spent over 40,000 man hours producing and deploying more than two million sandbags across the Okanagan.

“If they are on private property they are the responsibility of the property owner to dispose of,” said Tom Wilson, Communications Manager at City of Kelowna. “If they’re on public land the municipality is responsible for taking them away.”

Wilson added the City of Kelowna is investigating this incident and will provide an update when more information is available.