Why not turn remediation to good account?

Faced with an exercise as comprehensive and complex as the one conducted by Environment Canada to examine contamination in the Québec harbour and develop clean-up strategies, the Port of Québec Corporation showed an interest in reconciling environmental and economic considerations.

It proposes killing two birds with one stone, so to speak, by incorporating remediation of the Saint-Charles River estuary into the planned expansion of its port facilities: remediation would improve the estuary's environmental quality while expansion of port facilities would no doubt benefit regional economic development.

The proposal under study consists in dredging most of the middle and downstream sections of the estuary to restore the aquatic environment and provide ships with access to the various docks. The most contaminated sediment would be contained in on-shore confined disposal facilities behind the concrete docks provided for under the expansion project (Figure 10). The less contaminated material would be used to create wildlife habitats as well as a "green" buffer zone, while clean sand would be used to create a public beach.

Figure 10 : On-shore Confined Disposal Facilities behind Concrete Docks

When will the Québec harbour be cleaned up?

Environment Canada's mandate consisted in providing a sediment characterization study of the Québec harbour and preparing intervention strategies based on the data gathered. The strategy ultimately selected, however, must take into account the Port of Québec Corporation's development needs, as well as environmental, technical, economic and social considerations.

The Port of Québec Corporation has studied the various clean-up strategies formulated by Environment Canada and a joint working group has been set up to formulate a proposal that would combine sediment remediation, expansion of port facilities, recreational development and the creation of wildlife habitats.

The next step will consist in conducting an analysis of environmental advantages of the proposed intervention strategies in conjunction with the Port of Québec Corporation. It would be advisable to determine, at the same time, the best option in order to accurately assess the costs and environmental impacts involved.

Furthermore, this analysis will help determine the effort required by the federal government to attain its objective of "cleaning up its own backyard," as stated in Canada's Green Plan.

If implemented, such an important remediation project could be completed within four to six years, including the time required to develop the strategy in detail and obtain public approval. The first two to four years would be spent optimizing the project and conducting a public review under the federal environmental assessment and review process, while the actual project realization would take place in the las two years.

Although the Port of Québec Corporation proposes to lead the project, the success of the clean-up depends on the cooperation and coordinated efforts of various stakeholders that play a major role in this area. For this reason, it would be preferable if the working group were enlarged to include representatives from the Québec government, the Québec Urban Community, the City of Québec, the City of Beauport, industries, and environmental groups. Since each has specific responsibilities and areas of jurisdiction, there is a need for a team that can carry out the remediation project harmoniously and coherently.