New work is taking place this month around SidneyB次元官网网址檚 Reay Creek Pond, a body of water classed by Transport Canada as an .
Reay Creek Residents group spokesperson Bill Collins sent an email recently, notifying people who live around the pond and along the creek, that has contracted a local consulting firm to B次元官网网址渃arry out topographic surveysB次元官网网址� of the upper reaches of the creek. Collins said such work is an indication of scientific investigation and is part of the groundwork for remediation.
The residentsB次元官网网址� group is part of the overall Reay Creek working group headed up by the Town of Sidney. It includes Transport Canada, the Victoria Airport Authority and District of North Saanich.
Contamination in the waterway has been known for years, but independent testing done in 2015 B次元官网网址� and again by Transport Canada in 2016 B次元官网网址� in the pond and creek bed sediment. High levels of cadmium, zinc, lead and chromium have been found buried in the sediment. While the Town stated in 215 that there was no danger to the public, the municipality did put up signs in 2016, warning residents and park users to keep themselves, children and pets out of the soil along the creek.
The contamination is generally believed to have come from years of operations at the Victoria International Airport B次元官网网址� or the Pat Bay Air Station, when it was built in the early 1940s. In recent years the Victoria Airport Authority, which took over operation of the airport from Transport Canada in 1997, has been to clean up the creeks on its property.
Transport Canada declined an interview with the Peninsula B次元官网网址 Review, but in an emailed statement, said they are B次元官网网址渦ndertaking environmental assessment and survey work to determine the extent of contamination in Reay Creek within the Victoria International Airport land, Town of Sidney and District of North Saanich.B次元官网网址�
B次元官网网址淭he purpose of collecting the environmental and survey information is to identify the preliminary scope and estimated cost of remediation options.B次元官网网址�
According to the federal governmentB次元官网网址檚 contaminated sites list, Transport Canada set aside $80,300 in 2016/17 for preliminary work. They also estimated around 4,000 cubic meters of contaminated soil might be in the area.
In itB次元官网网址檚 statement to the PNR, Transport Canada noted once the planning is done, they will work with the other stakeholders to develop a final remediation strategy. Any work after that could take place in 2018. Collins noted earlier this year that remediation could range from doing nothing, to monitoring water quality, to removing all contaminants and fixing the creek bed, or even eliminating the pond.
PeninsulaB次元官网网址檚 Active Contaminated Sites
There are four active contaminated sites being looked at by the federal government, according to the online sites list.
In addition to Reay Creek, there are contaminated sites in Tseyhum Harbour, as well as an B次元官网网址楨ast DumpsiteB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址榃est DumpsiteB次元官网网址� both on Department of National Defense lands at the airport.
All of those sites are in some stage of review or remediation and all contain heavy metal contamination, petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
According to the list, the federal government is spending anywhere from $80,000 to $91,800 on these active sites in 2016/17.
The federal contaminated sites list shows there are in excess of 15 spots on the Saanich Peninsula whose files have either been investigated and closed, or are still open.
