Sydney Tar Ponds Remediation
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S/S Approved for Sydney Tar Ponds Remediation
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| Sydney Tar Ponds Site, Sydney Nova Scotia,
Blue hatched area for North and South ponds to be S/S treated.
Yellow areas PCB-contaminated area to be S/S treated. Circular
tank (cooling Pond) to be S/S treated. |
The Canadian Federal and Nova Scotia Provincial governments granted
final approval of a remedy at the Sydney Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens
(STPCO) site. Remediation of the STPCO site is the largest contaminated
site cleanup ever planned in Canada, with a budget of $400 million
CAD. The Site includes contaminated sediment and soil from over
100 years of steelmaking. The 31-hectare (77-acre) Tar Ponds contain
over 700,000 metric tons (770,000 short tons) of contaminated sediments.
The main contaminants are heavy metal and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
(PAHs). Both are well known by-products of coke production.
 The
approved remedy includes solidification/stabilization treatment
technology. A proposed remedy included S/S for the majority of contaminated
sediment, and incineration for a portion of the sediment more heavily
contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). This proposed
remedy was reviewed by an independent Joint Environmental Review
Panel. In response to the Panel’s recommendations, incineration
was dropped from the selected remedy and S/S will be used to treat
all of the contaminated sediment in the ponds.
A partnership of engineering consulting firms- Earth Tech and CBCL
have been contracted for final design and construction oversight
for the STPCO cleanup. The cleanup should take approximately 8 years
with the S/S treatment portion of the tar ponds to start in 2008.
Mix design is currently underway to determine the addition rate
of cement and possible other S/S reagents that will be used.
 The
earliest use of S/S at the site was to treat a portion of the site
known as the Sysco Cooling Pond. The Sysco Cooling Pond is a 120-meter
(400-foot) diameter shallow, wood-lined tank that cooled water used
in steelmaking. Sediments in the Cooling Pond contain mill scale
and oily waste. The pond was treated by S/S and capped in 2008.
More information about the STPCO site is available on the Sydney
Tar Ponds Agency’s website.
More
information on the cooling pond portion.
On a humorous note, Rick Mercer, one of Canada’s top comedians
recently televised a skit about the Sydney Tar Ponds cleanup. Titled
“Save the Tar Ponds” the skit may be viewed on YouTube.
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