Residents are advised that the Municipality of Port Hope is conducting a suction dredge of the Port Hope outer harbour. The dredging begins on Wednesday, December 2, 2020.
The Municipality and Cameco Corporation have been working collaboratively to resolve issues related to Cameco’s cooling water intake, located along the west harbour wall, which has been impacted by sedimentation deposits. Cameco’s Conversion Facility continues to operate safely.
To conduct this operation, municipal staff have consulted with experts in the field of hydrology and have obtained permits/permission from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry, and the Ganaraska Region Conservation Authority.
In coordination with Cameco Corporation and Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, the following work will be carried out:
- Suction dredge of approximately 20,000m3, including areas south of the centre pier and along the west harbour wall.
- Temporarily store the dredged material on municipal property, west of Cameco.
- Coordinate the independent testing of the sediment to ensure that it conforms to the standards of the Ministry of Environment, Conservation, and Parks (MECP) for use as beach supplement.
- If the sediment meets the MECP standards, it will be deposited at both the East and West Beaches in Port Hope.
- If the sediment does not meet MECP standards, the materials will be transported to a licensed landfill site.
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories will support the dredge operation through the Construction Monitoring Program and test for the presence of historic Low-Level Radioactive Waste (LLRW). Any contaminated materials detected will be transported to the Long-Term Waste Management Facility located in Port Hope.
For questions about the suction dredge of sediment in the outer harbour, please email Jim McCormack, Director of Parks, Recreation, and Culture, or call 905-885-8760.
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