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Hudson Bay First Nations working with Ontario to clean up condaminated abandoned radar sites

September 9, 2010 - 8:50pm | by brianbeaton

Ontario press release 

Largest Radar Site Being Cleaned Up - McGuinty Government Improves Northern Environment and Creates Jobs

September 9, 2010

The Weenusk First Nation community on the Hudson Bay will work closely with the Ontario government on the clean up of the largest abandoned radar site in Northern Ontario.

Over the next three years, the Weenusk First Nation will operate a remote base camp for workers and assist with the clean up of Site 500 part of the Mid-Canada Line near Peawanuck. More than 40 jobs will be created for the Weenusk First Nation in the first year of the project.

The project is part of an Ontario-led six-year plan to clean up 16 Mid-Canada Line sites that are contaminated with toxic materials and littered with debris and derelict buildings.

"Our government continues to move forward to clean up the 16 Mid-Canada Line radar sites. We welcome the skills and expertise the Weenusk people will be providing to the Site 500 clean up."
– Linda Jeffrey, Minister of Natural Resources

"The clean up of the radar sites has been a long time coming and Weenusk First Nation is eager to move ahead with this project. Jobs will be created over the next three years for people from my community and that is very important to us. As well, the clean up will help improve the health of the environment for the people who live on this land. "
– Chief Edmund Hunter, Weenusk First Nation

QUICK FACTS

  • Ontario has signed agreements with the Weenusk First Nation for more than $11 million of the $41-million overall cost of cleaning up Site 500.
  • Ontario is investing $55 million in the six-year plan to clean up 16 Mid-Canada Line sites.
  • In 2009, two former Mid-Canada sites were successfully cleaned up.
  • The sites are contaminated with toxic materials such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), hydrocarbons, mercury and asbestos, as well as derelict buildings.

LEARN MORE

See a map showing the location of Mid-Canada Line radar Sites. (PDF, 0.2MB)

CONTACTS
Media Desk
Communications Services Branch
416-314-2106

Emily Kirk
Minister's Office
416-314-1100

Natural Resources Information Centre
1-800-667-1940
TTY 1-866-686-6072 (Hearing)
 
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From MNR site 

Cleanup of Ontario's Mid-Canada Line Radar Sites

September 9, 2010

Backgrounder

Ontario is cleaning up the largest of the 16 Mid-Canada Line radar sites in the Far North over the next three years.

History of the Mid-Canada Line

  • At the height of the Cold War in the mid-1950s, the Department of National Defence built 98 radar sites across Canada. Fourteen of the 16 sites in Ontario are located along the coasts of Hudson Bay and James Bay in the Far North boreal region of Ontario.
  • Known as the Mid-Canada Line, the purpose of the radar line was to provide early warning of attacks by air.
  • The Ontario sites were not used by the Department of National Defence after the mid-1960s, and ownership of the land was transferred to Ontario.
  • Derelict buildings, radar towers, fuel tanks, metal drums and a variety of other equipment and debris remain at the sites, as well as toxic materials.

Site 500

  • Cleanup of Site 500 is a major project expected to cost approximately $41 million dollars.
  • Site 500 is comprised of a main site, four smaller adjacent sites (also known as "doppler" sites) and includes:

■11 major buildings, such as a gymnasium, mess hall, barracks, operations building, airport hangar and tower
■17 derelict vehicles
■an estimated 50,000 empty fuel drums.

First Nations

  • The province will provide training and job opportunities to First Nations people and businesses during the cleanup.
  • Ontario has signed a one-year agreement worth $3 million with Winisk 500 Corporation, a First Nation business, to do general clean-up work at Site 500.
  • The province has also signed an agreement directly with Weenusk First Nation for it to provide and operate a remote base camp facility for the Site 500 clean-up. This is a three-year contract worth approximately $8 million.

Other Mid-Canada Projects

  • Ontario is leading an $85-million, six-year plan to clean up 16 sites that are contaminated with toxic materials, littered with debris and derelict buildings.
  • In 2009, two Mid-Canada Line sites -- Site 060 along the rail line to Moosonee and Site 070 near the town of Ramore -- were cleaned up. Almost 50,000 metric tonnes of contaminated soil has been removed and the sites were successfully restored.
  • Ontario is working with First Nations communities on the cleanup of Mid-Canada sites, including Fort Severn, the Weenusk First Nation at Peawanuck, Attawapiskat, Taykwa Tagamou Nation, Moose Cree and the Mushkegowuk Tribal Council.

CONTACTS
Mike Cartan
Mid-Canada Line Project
705-235-1192

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