Port Hope Dredging Kicks Off

The Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) has officially started the Port Hope Harbor dredging scheme, aimed to uncover some fascinating sunken finds within the sediment.

The dredging, which began on October 31, is part of the process to remove sediment, objects and other material contaminated with historic low-level radioactive waste from the inner and outer harbor.

The PHAI involves the cleanup of waste on municipal and residential sites in Port Hope and is being undertaken by Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) on behalf of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, a federal Crown corporation.

With the Port Hope Harbour never being fully dredged, the team is on the careful lookout for items of archeological value. These items can range from precontact to indigenous. With a team of archeologists on standby, any exciting finds in the well-documented Port Hope Harbor will be treated with the appropriate care to meet the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport guidelines.

In the meantime, work to establish the laydown area for the sediment containment tubes that will be used for dewatering is underway, and the portable water treatment plant is being constructed to treat and discharge water back to the harbor from the Centre Pier.