.
Search
 Email this articleE-mail this story  Discuss this articleWrite letter to editor  Discuss this articleOrder a classified ad  Print this page

Clean-up underway at old Dew-line site

John King
Northern News Services

Tuktoyaktuk (Mar 27/06) - Fears over lead-based paint used at the old Atkinson Point Dew-line site were addressed at a community meeting in Tuktoyaktuk last month.

The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs (DIAND) took over responsibility of the site in 1965 after the facility became obsolete.

“Residents are happy the site is being remediated. Basically they just want to get it done,” said Emma Pike, a project leader with DIAND.

Pike says risk to people and the environment is “minimal,” and adds most residents are concerned over the aesthetics of the site.

“It just doesn’t look good,” Pike said.

DIAND hopes the process of demolishing and taking apart contaminated structures will begin during the next winter road season.

“If things go as planned, after the contracts go out and we are given regulatory approval, we’ll start once the winter roads open,” Pike said.

It will take about one year before Atkinson point is free of PCP contamination, says Pike.

After conducting an environmental assessment of the site, DIAND is now in the process of creating a plan to deal with the PCP contamination.

“After separating the hazardous material from the non-hazardous material, we’ll ship the contaminants in lined containers that are non-permeable so water sheds off the lining,” Pike said.

“Then we’ll ship it out depending on how accessible the site is. Sometimes we’ll haul it out by truck or by barge.”

Pike says there is only one other project underway in the area - on Banks Island.

“There is a site on the east coast of the island at Johnson Point that used to be the staging area for oil and gas exploration,” Pike said, adding DIAND will be looking at cleaning up the fuel tank farm and some of the buildings left behind.