Randle Reef

[ScreamingViking]

Aglukkaq: "...and in the main estimates this year we are committing even more."

Any bets this becomes a 2015 election promise instead of a 2015 budget item?


This was in the Spec letters section yesterday. Might be worth discussing, but I thought there was a risk that dredging into the worst of the sediments could stir and disperse the contamination farther into the harbour? (hence the idea to contain the highest concentrations with the structure first)

Clean up Randle Reef bit by bit
The Hamilton Spectator - June 20, 2014
http://www.thespec.com/opinion-story...ef-bit-by-bit/

Costs puts Randle Reef project at risk (June 18)

There is another option besides tweaking the current engineering proposals and associated costs.

It is a more realistic strategy long advocated by environmental experts and activists, namely proceed incrementally, not all at one go.

This strategy was advanced in the Environmental Assessment done by Environment Canada in 1995 and then nixed by senior bureaucrats.

Incremental cleanup is designed to remove and, ideally, treat the wastes by feasible portions like the 30,000 cubic metres used as a "model" in the 95EA.

Similar portions would be removed on a regular (e.g. annual) basis. The costs would be defrayed removal by removal, ideally by gradually using up the current IOU donations.

If treatment were included, the clean waste could be placed back into the harbour, rather than trucked to an industrial landfill.

It would be sensible to swap the big visible legacy of the current plan for the different strategy of incrementalism.

Let's use our brains to solve this new problem!

Mark Sproule-Jones, Emeritus Professor and Copps Chair, McMaster University

[Dr Awesomesauce]

^Are we up to 30 years on this story yet? Wake me when three-eyed fish start washing up on the shore.

[NortheastWind]

CBC indicates that "companies have one month and one day to bid on the tender, which closes on June 16". I hope a local company wins the bid.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilt...back-1.3065003

[interr0bangr]

New site launched specifically for this project: http://www.randlereef.ca/

Also, it was announced a few days ago that a Hamilton firm got the job: http://www.thespec.com/news-story/57...reef-contract/

[thistleclub]

Hamilton Harbour cleanup a 'joint responsibility,' says Burlington mayor
(Burlington Post, Michael Gregory, July 17 2015)

The restoration of Hamilton Harbour is a “joint responsibility,” says Burlington Mayor Rick Goldring, as the federal government announced Friday that contracts had been awarded for the Randle Reef clean up effort.

“Burlington is proud to be a part of a government and private sector team that shares the common belief that cleaning up the Hamilton Harbour is a joint responsibility and the right thing to do,” Goldring said.

“Preserving our natural environment is something we take very seriously in Burlington.”

Hamilton’s McNally Construction was awarded the $138.9-million contract for the first stage of construction to clean up Randle Reef, located just offshore from U.S. Steel Canada and the worst coal tar-contaminated site in Canada.

Burlington has committed $2.3M, with another $2M coming from Halton Region, to remediate the site, located across from LaSalle Park.

Another $46M is coming from the federal government and province, while Hamilton is contributing $14M.


Read it in full here.

[NortheastWind]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

Hamilton Harbour cleanup a 'joint responsibility,' says Burlington mayor
(Burlington Post, Michael Gregory, July 17 2015)

Hamilton’s McNally Construction was awarded the $138.9-million contract for the first stage of construction to clean up Randle Reef, located just offshore from U.S. Steel Canada and the worst coal tar-contaminated site in Canada.
Read it in full here.

McNally's head office is in Hamilton but are owned by Weeks Marine of New Jersey, who are the largest marine construction company in the US.

[ScreamingViking]

The Spec's story notes the work will begin next year, with completion expected in 2022. Hopefully the ongoing U.S. Steel issues will not fuddle this up and cause more delays -- most of their commitment was to supply the steel.


Randle Reef construction starting in spring
By Mark McNeil, Hamilton Spectator (July 21, 2015)

After years of delay, the harbour toxic blob will be encapsulated at a cost of almost $140M

The Hamilton company that will take on the first phase of the long awaited Randle Reef Remediation Project won't be starting construction until the spring of 2016.

Environment Canada says it's too late this year to begin work encapsulating the giant toxic blob in Hamilton Harbour. As well, it will take several months for steel to be made for the containment walls.

The $138.9-million project to deal with the worst coal tar contaminated site in Canada had been snarled for years in delays, technical studies, funding disputes, and legalities. Then in February 2014 a call for bidders was issued with expectations of construction beginning that summer.

But that was dashed when all the bids came in over budget and government officials had to go back to the drawing board. A second request for proposals was issued in the spring of 2015, with hopes of construction beginning this summer.

But now—with the awarding of the contract to McNally Construction of Hamilton taking until last week – actual construction has been put off again.

"I had a feeling this would happen," said Lynda Lukasik, of Environment Hamilton. "It is par for the course. We have been waiting a long time."

read more

[realcity]

I didn't know they were dredging too. This is good to hear. I like the 'vacuum pump' from the surrounding area and not just capping the reef.

[realcity]

thats great lego building. as a kid I built skyscrapers with my lego as tall as I could.

[ScreamingViking]

I used to do that too. And I'd build cities, with towers made of the smaller bricks.

My nephew inherited all my LEGO, plus he's been getting new sets every year (though almost all their sets today are geared to building a specific thing: vehicles, Star Wars ships, etc.... nice business model they've tapped into $$$)

[ScreamingViking]

This is great news. Still a couple of years out from full completion but coming along steadily.


Dredging of contaminants at Randle Reef in Hamilton Harbour is complete

https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...-dredging.html

Teviah Moro
The Hamilton Spectator
Fri., June 18, 2021



The last of the contaminated sediments have been dredged from Randle Reef and deposited in a massive steel box as part of a years-long effort to clean up Hamilton Harbour.

“It’s certainly something that we’re quite thrilled about,” Mark Bainbridge, the city’s director of water and wastewater planning and capital, said Friday.

That stage of the $138.9-million project was completed in March, Bainbridge said, noting some less serious remaining contaminants still have to be capped with sand.

But the “vast, vast majority” of the material befouled by more than a 100 years of heavy industry has been placed in the 15-acre steel isolation container built in the southwest corner of the harbour, Bainbridge noted.

The so-called reef is roughly 148 acres and contained an estimated 695,000 cubic metres of sediment polluted with toxic chemicals has been the most befouled site on the Canadian Great Lakes.

The effort to build the steel box is a project jointly funded by the federal, provincial and area municipal governments, as well as Stelco was inked in 2015. Hamilton’s share is $14 million.

Bainbridge expects the “sand-capping” of remaining contaminated sediment — in a channel by the steelmaker that dredging equipment couldn’t reach — to be finished in August.

The next stage of the remediation project will involve placing an “environmental cover” on the containment box, built with about $10 million in Stelco steel, is expected to start early next year, the federal government says.

Dealing with Randle Reef is considered a major step toward delisting Hamilton Harbour as an “area of concern,” a status it was given in 1985 under the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement.

The project is expected to be finished in late 2023, Bainbridge noted in a recent update for city council.

...

full story here

Google map from the story

[thistleclub]

Would make an epic miniputt course.

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

Would make an epic miniputt course.

A hell of a water hazard...

[SteelTown]

Final stage of cleaning up contaminated Randle Reef gets underway in Hamilton Harbour
The project is expected to be completed by 2025

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamil...hree-1.6958295

The third and final stage to remove sediment at Randle Reef is underway.

The $150-million project is cleaning up of the once-most contaminated site on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes.

Randle Reef had over 615,000 cubic metres of sediment — enough to fill a hockey rink three times over. The contamination dates back to the 1800s, after years of industrial pollution.

The clean up started in 2016 and was originally set to be done by 2022 but the pandemic resulted in some delays, said Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas MP Filomena Tassi on Wednesday.

The last step involves removing and treating the remaining water from the container before releasing it back into the harbour and installing the final capping of the container.

The project, now expected to be completed by 2025, will "resonate far beyond the shores of the Hamilton Harbour," Tassi said.

"The Great Lakes are an essential to the health and well being of millions of Canadians, our ecosystems and the economy. Pollution has been putting all this at risk."

[Innsertnamehere]

have they said what they plan on doing with the land once it's complete? It's nearly 15 acres so it's fairly large. I recall seeing somewhere a while ago that HOPA was considering using it as the port's container terminal.. Wonder if that's still the case and if demand for containers is strong enough to need it.

[ScreamingViking]

I'm not sure definitive plans have been shared. The June 18, 2021 Spec story noted a vague "likely" use but that may have changed in 2+ years.

The newly created space will allow a ship to moor there and will likely be used as a cargo handling area for bulk materials, Fenn said.

“One of the really neat opportunities is to be able to connect rail to the new Randle Reef area to allow for cargo transfer direct from vessel to rail.”