The owner of the land above the location of a deadly landslide in Lions Bay, B.C., is speaking out, saying he’s done nothing wrong.
The owner told Global News he’s been assured that work he did on his property did not cause the tragedy.
“I don’t think there’s anything that human beings could have done to stop that slide,” Steve Vestergaard said in a Thursday interview.
On Dec. 14, 2024, a wall of mud and trees cascaded down Battani Creek during a storm, and slammed into the home of David and Barbara Enns, killing both of them.
“It was tragic, the Enns were my friends,” Vestergaard said.
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“In the weeks that followed, news broke that the RCMP were investigating the slide, though they have not clarified why.
No one, including Vestergaard, has been accused of wrongdoing.
The slide happened directly below a stone and concrete dam structure that Vestergaard had built on the creek.
“The reservoir at Battani Creek was approved back in 1987 by the previous owner, so when I came in, the water intake was basically a swamp,” he said.
Vestergaard said that work there, including the construction of a concrete structure was all thoroughly permitted and approved by provincial officials.
He added that after the disaster he was told by one of them that his work had nothing to do with the slide.
“She said, absolutely, I’m not responsible … But she didn’t tell me what the cause was,” he said.
“She did say that it wasn’t human-caused… It was natural.”
Global News sought to verify the status of Vestergaard’s work above the slide zone with the Ministry of Water, Land and Resouce Stewardship. The ministry said it was not able to immediately respond, but was working on a response.
As for the police investigation, Vestergaard said he’s in the dark on that as well.
“I haven’t talked to anybody from the RCMP,” he said.
Vestergaard still intends to build a home on the property and live there. And like others in the area, he’s still haunted by the call he got that a landslide had hit the Enns family home.
“I had just hoped and prayed that they were on holiday,” he said.
“It’s just an awful situation.”
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
