With the awarding of the Stage One Construction contract, the Government of Canada and its partners have reached an important milestone in cleaning up one of the largest and most contaminated sites on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes—Randle Reef in Hamilton Harbour.
Hamilton Harbour is a 2,150-hectare area located at the western tip of Lake Ontario and is connected to the lake by a ship canal. In 1985, it was identified as an Area of Concern under the Canada–United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement due to significant impairment of water quality. While many improvements have been made to reduce pollution in the harbour, the problem of contaminated sediment remains, and that is why the Government is taking action. Several urban centres are located in the watershed including the cities of Hamilton, Ancaster, Dundas, Flamborough, Stoney Creek, Burlington, portions of Halton Region and the Township of Puslinch.
Located in the southwest corner of Hamilton Harbour, the Randle Reef site is approximately 60 hectares (120 football fields) in size. The site contains approximately 695,000 cubic meters of sediment contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and other toxic chemicals that will be safely addressed through the $138.9 million clean-up project. PAH contamination at Randle Reef is a legacy from a variety of past industrial processes dating back to the 1800s.
The Randle Reef sediment remediation project involves constructing an engineered containment facility, approximately 6 hectares (14 acres) in size, to contain the most highly contaminated sediments at the site, while lesser contaminated sediments will be capped in place using in situ capping. The facility will be made of double steel sheet pile walls with the outer walls being driven to depths of up to 24 metres into the underlying sediment.
Cleaning up Randle Reef will improve water quality, making it safer to eat fish caught in the harbour. It will also remove current restrictions on navigation and generate economic returns through the creation of valuable port lands.
All other major actions to restore water quality and aquatic ecosystem health in Hamilton Harbour have been completed or are underway. However, Hamilton Harbour cannot be delisted as an Area of Concern until contaminated sediments at Randle Reef have been successfully cleaned up.
Environment Canada, the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change, the City of Hamilton, the Hamilton Port Authority, U. S. Steel Canada, the City of Burlington, and Halton Region are all working together to advance the Randle Reef sediment remediation project.
