A contract has been awarded to Milestone Environmental Contracting Inc. for the Victoria Harbour remediation and cleanup project.
Seabed and marine wildlife health are threatened by the presence of persistent contaminants that have accumulated in the harbor. As such, the Government of Canada awarded a $5,343,787.94 contract to Milestone Environmental Contracting Inc. to restore the environmental health of Victoria’s Middle Harbour seabed by removing hazardous chemicals in sediments found in Transport Canada-owned harbour near the Laurel Point Park.
“Undertaking the remediation of Victoria’s Middle Harbour demonstrates our government’s ongoing commitment to cleaning up contaminated sites and protecting the marine environment,” said Marc Garneau, Minister of Transport. “This work is important for the well-being of the marine wildlife that call Victoria Harbour their home and feeding ground.”
The cleanup work will begin this month and is expected to be completed by January 2018. This involves dredging of contaminated sediment and transporting the sediment by barge to an approved facility for treatment and disposal. The harbour bed will be backfilled with clean material. The dredging work will consist of removing 1,200 cubic metres of contaminated sediment from the se bed.
The project will be closely monitored by Transport Canada to ensure the safety of workers and the community. Sediment and water quality will be monitored throughout the project to ensure that cleanup objectives are met and that the dredging activities do not have a negative impact on the surrounding environment.
The Victoria Middle Harbour Remediation Project is funded through the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan, which is coordinated by Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, and provides funding to assess and remediate federal contaminated sites.
