Hamilton's Randle Reef cleanup will undo generations of damage

The long-awaited cleanup of Hamilton'sRandleReef is officially underway.

On Friday morning, the Harbour Queen party boat at Pier 8was boarded by politicians, scientists and journalists forashort tour of theconstruction zone around the contaminated area in Hamilton Harbour.

It will have a huge, positive influence on what took generations of neglect and abuse to create,and that is the image of Hamilton as a dirty, unworthy place.- Chris McLaughlin, executive director, Bay Area Restoration Counci

Catherine McKenna, federal minister of environment and climate change;Glen Murray, provincial minister of environment and climate change; Hamilton Mayor FredEisenberger; and Burlington Mayor RickGoldringwere among the dignitaries on board.

The event wasn't intended to be a fundingannouncement or used to introduce any new information about the project.It was held to celebrate the cooperation between the variousstakeholders and to show the community the long-awaitedcleanup project is actually happening.

It also allowed dignitaries to view the site in question. The project is estimated to cost $139 million.

• Read More:'Leap forward' for harbour as Randle Reef cleanup contracts awarded

"This is a boat tour to celebrate a construction site. Avery, very significant construction site,"Chris McLaughlin, executive director of the Bay Area Restoration Council, said.

Changing themindsetof the community

When the project is done, it will have a huge impact on the area, andnot just on the environmental side, he said.

"The psychology of the community has been heavily influenced over generations by the reputation that Hamilton and Hamilton Harbour have gained through the declining environmental quality here.

"Over time, it will have a huge, positive influence on what took generations of neglect and abuse to create,and that is the image of Hamilton as a dirty, unworthy place," he said.

McKenna referred to Hamilton as her hometownand spoke of how the city evolved around the harbour.She said the Randle Reef cleanup project will generate millions in economic benefits including job creation, business development and tourism.

"The environment and the economy go hand-in-hand," she said. Byrevitalizingsites likeRandleReef, it's good for future generations, good for the environment and good for the economy, she said.

Cleaning the country's mostcontaminated site on the the Canadian side of the great lakes would also lead to the removal ofHamilton harbour from the list of "areas of concern"under the Canada United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, she said.

"I would love to be able to jump off the boat and go swimming here," she said pointing out to the water. "Maybe one day soon I'll be able to do that."

Three phases

Jon Gee, theproject manager and federal spokespersonof the cleanup project, said the first phase of the construction began in March and is expected to be completed by the end of 2017. This phase involves building wallsaround the heart of the contamination.

Randle Reef is an area ofcontaminated sediment,approximately 60 hectares in size. It contains 695,000 cubic metres of toxic contaminantsenough to fill FirstOntario Centre three times over, Geesaid.

When the firstphase isfinished, there will be a double steel-walled barriersurrounding the most heavily contaminated sedimenta box that will contain the most toxiccoal tar and heavy metal materials.The size of this"engineered containment facility"will holdroughly 6.2 hectares.

Phase two will involve dredging the contaminated sediments from the surrounding areas and placing them inside the enclosure.This stage will begin in 2018 and finish up by late 2019.

The final phase of the project involves removing the water from the containment area and placing an impermeable cap on the facility, sealing in the contaminants.

Once the facility is sealed, Gee said the containerwill be paved and then turned over to the port authority to be put to use.

Maybe the new structurecan be operated as a port and generate a bit of income, he said. This way, if it can be used to make money,the ongoing maintenancecosts of the structure will be covered.

"It's a 200 year design life span, but it's maintainable in perpetuity," he said, speaking about the containment facility.

This final stage of theproject is expected to begin in 2020 and be completed in 2022.