August 8, 2012

Port Hope, Ontario gets $1.3 million federal grant to develop park land near proposed radioactive waste site

The Municipality of Port Hope, Ontario recently announced it has received a $1.3 million grant from Natural Resources Canada to develop municipal parkland near the proposed site of a long-term management facility for low-level radioactive waste.

The site will include two regulation size soccer fields, parking areas, benches and pedestrian trail connections, the municipality announced July 25.

The site is on the east side of Baulch Road, about 100 kilometres east of Toronto, which Port Hope leases from Natural Resources Canada.

The project is part of a goal to ensure lands at and near a proposed Long Term Waste Management Facility would be open and accessible to the public. The Port Hope Area Initiative, a partnership of Natural Resources Canada, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited and Public Works and Government Services Canada, is working on cleanup, transportation and long-term management of about 1.2 million cubic metres low-level radioactive waste in the area, originating from the Eldorado nuclear operations.

“Phase One of the park development began in November 2011 with the construction of an entrance from Baulch Road, a large soccer field, parking area, and systems for storm water, irrigation and drainage,” according to the Port Hope press release. “Phase Two will begin (in July) with the development of the smaller soccer field, trails and parking, and the installation of field equipment, lighting, and fencing. Construction is expected to be finished by November 2012 with the soccer fields ready for use in July of 2013. Future plans for the parkland include the construction of washroom and change room facilities.”

The Long Term Waste Management Facility itself will include an above-ground mounds, facility operations centre, truck decontamination centre, truck weighing station, stormwater management pond, waste water treatment plant and water treatment collection pond, according to the PHAI website.

The aboveground mound, which will rise nearly 30 metres, is designed to isolate the historic low-level radioactive waste by encasing it with multiple layers of materials designed to prevent contaminants from entering the environment. Those materials will include high-density polyethylene geomembrane, a geosynthetic clay liner and a geotextile fabric layer.

DCN DIGITAL MEDIA

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