Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) has terminated one of the primary contracts for remediation of radioactive contamination at Port Hope, Ontario.
As of June 30, Ottawa-based Milestone Environmental Contracting will no longer be in charge of cleanup of Port Hope Harbor and the Center Pier under the Port Hope Area Initiative, according to a press release Tuesday from CNL.
The privately operated science and technology organization declined to discuss the cause of the contract termination. “CNL will not be providing additional information beyond that included in the media release,” spokeswoman Shernette Muccuth Henry said by email.
Milestone did not respond to a call by deadline Wednesday for Weapons Complex Morning Briefing.
A new contractor is expected to be hired in time for the 2021 construction season starting next spring, the press release says. Construction has been on hold this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The $1.3 billion (CAD) Port Hope Area Initiative covers various cleanup jobs in Port Hope and Clarington, both along Lake Ontario. The radioactive contamination is the result of uranium and radium refining in Port Hope from 1933 to 1988.
In August 2018, Milestone received a $95 million (CAD) contract for work at Port Hope Harbor and Center Pier. The jobs encompassed refurbishing the harbor’s deteriorating walls and the pier, along with suction dredging about 120,000 cubic meters of sediment contaminated by low-level radioactive waste.
“Work completed to date includes the installation of a wave attenuator and turbidity curtain, as well as other preparatory work for dredging, including repairs to some of the harbour walls,” Henry wrote. “Mechanical dredging began with removal of large obstructions at the end of October 2019 and was paused during the winter period.”
