Learn more about $90m harbour cleanup plan
November 15, 2008
The Hamilton Spectator
(Nov 15, 2008)
Environment Canada will provide details of the proposed $90-million cleanup of Randle Reef at a public meeting Tuesday.
Display panels containing much of the information can be viewed in advance on the Bay Area Restoration Council website,
www.hamiltonharbour.ca.
Randle Reef is said to be the second-worst case of toxic coal tar contamination in Canada, after the tar ponds in Sydney, N.S.
The heaviest contamination covers 7.5 hectares beside U.S. Steel Canada's Hamilton Works near the foot of Sherman Avenue.
The plan is to surround it with a steel-walled structure, then dredge less-contaminated sediment elsewhere in the harbour, put it inside and cap it with clean fill.
The structure would hold enough contaminated sediment to fill Copps Coliseum three times. Part of the surface would become dock space for the Hamilton Port Authority and part would be landscaped.
The federal and provincial governments have each committed $30 million for the work, considered key to removing Hamilton Harbour from the International Joint Commission's list of Great Lakes pollution hot spots. The port authority has hired former federal cabinet minister Tony Valeri to help raise the $30-million local share.
The panels will be on display from 1 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, 555 Bay St. N., with members of the project team available to answer questions. Formal presentations will be made from 7 to 8, with a question period from 8 to 9.