Randle Reef

Thursday July 23, 2015

Thursday July 23, 2015Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday July 23, 2015

Randle Reef construction starting in spring

After years of delay, the harbour toxic blob will be encapsulated at a cost of almost $140M

The Hamilton company that will take on the first phase of the long awaited Randle Reef Remediation Project won’t be starting construction until the spring of 2016.

Environment Canada says it’s too late this year to begin work encapsulating the giant toxic blob in Hamilton Harbour. As well, it will take several months for steel to be made for the containment walls.

The $138.9-million project to deal with the worst coal tar contaminated site in Canada had been snarled for years in delays, technical studies, funding disputes, and legalities. Then in February 2014 a call for bidders was issued with expectations of construction beginning that summer.

But that was dashed when all the bids came in over budget and government officials had to go back to the drawing board. A second request for proposals was issued in the spring of 2015, with hopes of construction beginning this summer.

But now—with the awarding of the contract to McNally Construction of Hamilton taking until last week – actual construction has been put off again.

“I had a feeling this would happen,” said Lynda Lukasik, of Environment Hamilton. “It is par for the course. We have been waiting a long time.”

But she said she is pleased the project has reached a point that a contract has been awarded for the first of three phases.

Jonathan Gee, of Environment Canada, said one aspect of the project will move ahead in September. In a separate contract with a different construction company, work will begin on reconstructing a harbour wall along the shoreline.

The entire remediation project is slated for completion in 2022. “Two years to build the box, two years to fill the box, and three years to put a lid on the box,” said Gee. (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

City wants to push ahead with Randle Reef work

Mayor Bob Bratina says Randle Reef project partners are searching for a way to begin work this year despite delays caused by over-budget construction bids.

Environment Canada recently revealed all construction bids have come in over budget for the first stage of the $138.9-million project to trap more than a million tonnes of coal tar sludge in Hamilton Harbour.

Work on building a steel-walled containment facility was supposed to start this spring, but may now be put off until sometime next year.

Bratina said he and city manager Chris Murray met with federal officials over the weekend and confirmed “absolute support” for the project, including the contentious decision to contain rather than dig up the pollution.

He said federal officials are also convinced the $139-million budget for the project is on target, despite “significant” budget overruns from all bidders.

Federal officials will meet with bidders in July to go over the disparities in detail.

But in the meantime, Bratina said the city and other project partners are keen to “push ahead” on some aspect of the stalled project this year, if possible.

He conceded any decision to hive off a portion of the project would need federal approval, but expressed hope more options would come out of talks with bidders next month.

“We really need to show the public that our commitment is there and we’re willing to start the project and deal with disparities as we go along.” (Source: Hamilton Spectator)

 

Thursday December 20, 2012

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday December 20, 2012

Plan for Hamilton’s Randle Reef cleanup

It almost looks like a toy. The notion of putting a lid on a mass of coal tar contamination may sound odd, but it’s actually a common method for remediating these situations, says the project manager of Randle Reef.

Jonathan Gee, manager of the Great Lakes Areas of Concern division of Environment Canada, said the plan to encase the worst part of the contamination in steel has worked in numerous other places.

“This is not a brand new creation,” he said. “This is pretty well established.”

The project will see the highest concentration of coal tar — about 130,000 cubic metres — put into “a big steel box,” Gee said. The surrounding contamination — some 500,000 cubic metres — will be dredged into the containment facility, he said.

“It’s really pretty simple,” he said of the facility, which has a 200-year lifespan. “Conceptually, you build a big steel box. You fill the big steel box. Then you put a lid on the box and turn it over to an organization that will use it as a port facility and maintain it in perpetuity.”

Gee spoke with CBC Hamilton Tuesday morning when federal environment minister Peter Kent announced Ottawa’s share of the $138.9-million project. The clean up is a joint commitment between the federal and provincial governments, the Hamilton Port Authority, the cities of Hamilton and Burlington and the Halton Region. (Source: CBC News) 

 

June 6, 2007

Dalton McGuinty came to the Hamilton Spectator and I joined with others from the editorial board to listen to what the Premier had to say as the province approaches an election this coming October. Visits like these let me act like I’m some sort of portrait artist. This was the third visit he’s made to the Spec in the last 4 or 5 years. You can watch some highlights of the meeting in this nice little video featurette (you can see me earnestly drawing the above sketch at about the 1 minute 8 second mark as columnist Andrew Dreschel throws out a question.) The Premier seems prepared to dump bucket loads of cash on Hamilton, which isn’t all that surprising with an election looming. He threw out an intriguing challenge for Hamiltonians: What do you want?

Some interesting notes about today’s visit…

  • The Premier did not wear a red tie. It was purplish with a polkadotty type of design. It was loosened, and he was without a jacket, and of course his sleeves were rolled up.
  • Upon asking the Premier his choice of beverage my boss, Kevin Cavanaugh, followed through with a request for water by handing Mr. McGuinty a bottle and saying, “here’s some truth serum”.
  • The Premier mentioned Randle Reef 3 times during the meeting. Randle Reef is better known as a huge blob of toxic goo in Hamilton harbour. It’s one of those perpetual issues of this city that we live with but mostly don’t know what to do about. It’s interesting how it seems to be on top of mind for Ontario’s head honcho.
  • As I shook McGuinty’s hand after the meeting wrapped up he said “hey, make me look good.”

While I’m name dropping I should do some nation dropping as well. Part of the fun of going to France is bragging about going to France. That’s where I’m off to for the weekend. I’ll be back in the papers next Wednesday. UPDATE: Here I am in Liseaux, France with friend Christian Hyde and his son Nowe.

March 7, 2007

…And these are just the waterfront proposals. There’s a whole bunch more which could be recognized in, say, a downtown proposaleum. A new city hall, a rebuilt Lister Block, a new market, a naturopathic college, a downtown casino. All types of bold headline making ideas with splashy architectual/conceptual sketches that have gone no where.

Today’s cartoon is actually a revision of a cartoon I did way back in 1999:

This is not to say all new ideas for advancing innovative plans for Hamilton are stupid. I actually like Bob Bratina’s idea after you get past what sort of lake smell will be wafting down-breeze from the fountain, and maybe some more pressing needs like actually doing something about the toxic goo laying in the harbour’s Randle Reef. And while Councillor Bratina sounds very worldly pointing out Geneva’s Jet d’eau as an example, he needn’t look further than Peterborough’s own Centennial Fountain. So before he and a couple other councillors venture off on a fact finding trip to Switzerland they might instead consider a day trip to Peterborough.