Why is Randle Reef a problem?
Randle Reef is the largest and most contaminated site on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes, having been a dumping ground for untreated sewage and industrial waste for decades prior to water quality regulations.
What is the Randle Reef?
Located in the southwest corner of Hamilton Harbour on Lake Ontario, Randle Reef is the largest contaminated sediment site on the Canadian side of the Great Lakes.
What is Randle Reef contaminated with?
polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Located in the southwest corner of Hamilton Habour, the Randle Reef site is approximately 60 hectares (or about 120 football fields) in size. The site contains approximately 695,000 cubic metres of sediment contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and other toxic chemicals.
How large is the Randle Reef?
approximately 60 hectares
Located in the southwest corner of Hamilton Harbour, the Randle Reef site is approximately 60 hectares (120 football fields) in size. The site contains approximately 695,000 cubic metres of sediment contaminated with highly toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and heavy metals.
How much will it cost to remediate the Randle Reef?
The Randle Reef Contaminated Sediment Remediation Project will cost $138.9 million and will be completed in 2022.
How big is the Randle Reef sediment remediation project?
The project involves constructing an engineered containment facility. This specially designed double steel-walled and sealed “box” is approximately 6.2 hectares in size, and is being constructed to contain the most heavily contaminated sediment. The project is divided in 3 stages.
How big is the Randle Reef in Hamilton?
Randle Reef is an area of contaminated sediment located in Hamilton Harbour that is approximately 60 hectares in size. It contains 695,000 cubic metres of contaminated sediment at the bottom of the harbour, a volume that would fill a major hockey arena 3 times over.
Why was the Randle Reef spill a spill in slow motion?
The contamination is often described as “a spill in slow motion” due to the continuing slow spread of contaminants across the Harbour floor and uptake into the food chain of the Harbour ecosystem. PAH contamination at Randle Reef is a legacy of a variety of past industrial processes dating back to the 1800s.