What is the plan to clean up Whitby harbour?

What is the plan to clean up Whitby harbour?

Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) recently developed a Remedial Action Plan (RAP) to guide the cleanup (remediation) of Whitby Harbour. The RAP aims to reduce potential risks to the health of people, fish, and wildlife, that are associated with long term exposure to the chemicals found in Whitby Harbour. This will be achieved by removing contaminated sediment from the harbour, which will reduce harbour-wide dioxin and furan levels. Dioxins and furans are a group of chemicals which do not readily break down. They remain in the environment for a long time and accumulate in food chains. The source of the contamination is unknown, but as owners of the harbour, DFO has taken on the responsibility for cleaning up the site.

Contaminated sediment is expected to be removed by hydraulic dredging and placed in a temporary de-watering area. This area will be designed to allow clean water to drain from the sediment, while ensuring controls are in place to direct the flow and reduce turbidity of water re-entering the harbour, while ensuring controls are in place to direct the flow and reduce turbidity of water re-entering the harbour. De-watered materials will then be trucked off-site to a licensed disposal facility.

Project implementation will require the use of heavy equipment, site access, and the use of nearby municipal lands, and will result in increased traffic in the area at times. The remedial action plan identifies mitigation and monitoring measures that will be applied prior to, during, and after construction to reduce potential impacts to people, fish and wildlife. While some disruption to boaters, nearby landowners, and the broader community may occur, DFO is committed to minimizing these potential impacts.

What is a remedial action plan?

The remedial action plan presents the approach that will be used to clean up (remediate) contaminated sediments in Whitby Harbour. It outlines remediation requirements, including preferred construction methods, measures to protect the environment, wildlife and people, and monitoring requirements for before, during and after the work to ensure the project was successful. The remedial action plan sets the stage for the design phase, during which detailed plans will be developed for completing the cleanup.

What are the next steps?

The remedial action plan has laid out the framework for the remediation project, and the next step is to proceed with the design phase, which will provide detailed plans for each component of the project.

• step one: refine framework through engagement
• step two: design phase

DFO welcomes feedback from landowners, boaters, site users, and the broader community regarding the overall project timeline and design. DFO has also set up a web page which contains general information about the project timeline and plans, and will provide updates on overall status as the project proceeds: www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/whitby-harbour.

We encourage members of the public to submit questions and comments to the Project Team by email, phone, or mail.

Please contact Fisheries and Oceans Canada:

Email: DFO.OPInfoWhitby.MPO@dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Phone: 1-833-551-2702
Mail : Fisheries and Oceans Canada,
Whitby Harbour Project
520 Exmouth Street, Sarnia, ON, N7T 8B1