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GN to clean up mess at Old Clyde River

Abandoned site may contain environmental hazards

JANE GEORGE

CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE
Clyde River: Residents have wanted to see a cleanup at the Old Clyde River site for years. (FILE PHOTO)

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If you look out across Patricia Bay on a clear day, you can see Clyde River's old town site, which was abandoned more than 30 years ago.

But from this vantage point you can't see what's still there, strewn out over the ground — pieces of twisted metal, barrels and other rusty scraps left behind when people moved to the community's present-day site and its better access to fresh water.

The scene at Old Clyde River, according to a Government of Nunavut document, resembles an "extensive dump site."

"It needs a serious clean-up," said Denis Simard, Clyde River's senior administrative officer.

The community's mayor and council have been lobbying for years for the clean- up of Old Clyde River. And this month, the GN finally issued a request for proposals for an assessment and restoration plan at the former town site.

"Luckily for us, the government seems to be on side here. This is their reply to our concerns, which is very positive," Simard said.

Old Clyde River has no buildings, because they were pulled across the ice to the new location decades ago. Many of those old buildings, which were covered with potentially harmful asbestos siding, have since been demolished.

Old Clyde River had its beginnings in 1923, as a Hudson Bay Company trading post. The United States air force later established a weather station and an aid-to-navigation transmitter at the site during the Second World War.

In 1955, the facility was handed over to the Canadian government, shortly after the U.S. coast guard erected a transmitter site at nearby Cape Christian.

Canada maintained a weather station at Old Clyde River, a federal school and two power plants.

However, Cape Christian is now a higher federal priority for clean-up.

"At the territorial and municipal level, the urgency is to clean up Old Clyde River so we can reclaim that land for its historical use," Simard said.

Old Clyde River is a seasonal camping place for many Kangiqtugaapimmiut, especially elders, because it's fairly close to the community and there's an access road that leads almost to the site.

"With the new generation working, they like to go there and sleep in their tents and return in the morning," Simard said.

A clean-up would create a better road and probably safer water for campers, who get potable water from small creeks that run through the site.

In 1995, the territorial environmental protection service, in conjunction with the Environmental Sciences Group of the Royal Military College, conducted a preliminary investigation of the site. A year later, DIAND agreed to underwrite an environmental assessment of Old Clyde River.

The Environmental Sciences Group produced a report on its 1996 fieldwork that outlined its findings and concerns.

It found there is a visible trail and a "notable absence of vegetation" leading from the site of the weather station at the old federal hydrogen generator site, to the sea. The site was the location of several hydrogen gas generators (for filling weather balloons), and the area was found to be very high in aluminum, although there's no information on what, if any, human health risk this poses.

The site of the old federal power plant and garage is heavily stained with fuel, over a large area. There are also 16 full drums of what is believed to be lubricating oil.

Two one-litre capacitors with electrical components were found buried under some metal debris in the area. Oil was extracted from one of these and sent to the lab for PCB analysis. The results came in well below acceptable limits, but based on the experiences of inspectors, "where there are two buried capacitors, there are likely to be many more."

There are three separate dump sites with demolition debris, but these, the study suggested, might also include PCB-laden electrical equipment and fuel-contaminated soil.

"Overall, the site does not appear to be as heavily contaminated as other abandoned sites, however, there is evidence of the site being poorly managed, and contaminated by fuel and metals," says a GN document on Old Clyde River.

"The limited assessment of the three dump sites, which have not been subject to intrusive investigations, make them an unknown risk to the environment and to human health."

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