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Randle Reef : Issues and Solutions

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One of the most pressing environmental issues that hound Canadian government agencies is the pollution of Hamilton Harbour . To be specific , the government , both federal and local , is pressured to find immediate solutions to the toxic contamination of Randle Reef

This is the site that is considered , The second most toxic site in the country (Young , 2007 , 42 ) Randle Reef was named one of the Areas of Concern , areas who did not meet the standards set out in the 1978 Great Lakes

Water Quality Agreement . Here lies the problem , it has been twenty years since Randle Reef was cited as an area of concern and yet to this very day , no action has been taken to address the problem . Despite the foundation of agencies and commissions whose sole objectives are to address the contamination problem of the area , there has been no concrete action taken . Ideas and suggestions have been formulated but they have remained on . The long-standing debate on the best solution has focused on two feasible plans of action , to cap and contain the toxic contaminants or to dredge and remove them

Capping and Containment

One solution that has been presented is to build an on-site containment facility which will hold the toxic substances . Once the substances have been placed within the walls , The waste would be stabilized , capped with clean fill , and fitted with monitoring devices (Young , 2007 , 44 This solution is deemed feasible for several reasons

For one , capping and containment will lead to the development of a new commercial shipping pier that will allow further growth in the area . The substance produced by the containment facility can be used to build a new pier . Another important advantage of this course action is that The proposed facility would offer the further potential benefit of containing contaminated sediment dredged from other parts of the harbour (McNulty , 2002 ) Basically McNulty favors this solution because it is provide means to address the contamination in other areas of the harbour as well . This was raised by Hughes (2002 ) as well According to Hughes , The infilling creates a chance that contaminated sediments from other harbour hot spots can be cleaned far faster than thought possible ' He further adds that this solution avoids the problem and cost of addressing the toxic material from the bottom , a problem that previous plans could not address (Hughes , 2002

Another argument that has been raised in favor of capping is the cost As compared to the solution of dredging , capping costs much less According to Young (2007 , 45 , At a projected cost of 90 million containment might not seem economical , but the next best option-wholesale removal , treatment , and disposal of the sediment -would cost at least 300 million

These reasons are often the most cited by supporters of capping and containment as a solution to Randle Reef problem

Removal and Dredging

Removal and dredging of Randle Reef is being pushed for primarily by environmentalists who believe that...