City Council has unanimously approved a $20 million remediation agreement with the Department of National Defence (DND).
The deal involves the clean-up of per- and polyfluoroalkylated substances (PFAS) at Jack Garland Airport.
Councillor Chris Mayne, Chair of the city’s Infrastructure and Operations Committee, calls it a “huge agreement”.
“We are personally liable as councillors for anything involved with water protection in our community. This is one of the most significant projects we’ll be undertaking, I think, in our careers as council members,” he says.
Mayne thanked city staff and others for their work in getting an agreement.
“Early on there was a lot of back and forth about who owned the property and where the problems originated from. But, with the strong support of Mayor (Al) McDonald and our Member of Parliament Anthony Rota we were able to get strong support from the Department of National Defence,” Mayne says. “This $20 million initial proposal will see risk assessment, remediation and design all move forward.”
As MyNorthBayNow.com reported last week DND will provide up to $19.4 million over six years toward the airport PFAS cleanup.
The work will include study, removal and remediation, with the City funding the balance of up to $600,000 over the same time frame.
“The City has been working proactively toward this agreement for the past two years. It is a major step that will advance PFAS cleanup efforts at the airport,” says Mayor McDonald. “The health and safety of our residents is our highest priority and we will continue to do all we can to move this remediation work ahead as quickly as possible.”
The agreement allows the City to submit a second proposal in the future for additional costs if required.
“We don’t think this will be the full cost of the remediation work that needs to be done over the years to provide safety to our water, drinking water in Trout Lake. But, this is a significant start, it gets us going as early as we can. Ultimately, we think the cost could be as high as $38 million in work that needs to be done,” says Mayne.
PFAS are manmade substances found in many consumer and industrial products, including firefighting foam.
Past use of the airport lands for firefighter training between the early 1970s and mid-1990s has been identified as the main source of PFAS on the airport property.
Ongoing testing and monitoring for PFAS in Trout Lake, Lees Creek and residential wells in the area has been ongoing since 2017.
The level of PFAS detected in the City’s municipal water supply remains significantly lower than drinking water screening values set out by Health Canada and the interim guidance level provided by the MECP.
A long-standing drinking water advisory for Lees Creek remains in place as well as a fish consumption advisory for fish from the creek issued by the MECP.
“Our government has been working hard with our partners to leave a better environment to future generations. Though our work to solve the PFAS issue in North Bay is complex and ongoing, we remain committed to addressing this issue with the seriousness it deserves. By working together with our partners, including the City of North Bay, we are making real progress,” says Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of National Defence.
