INDEPTH: TAR PONDS
Tar ponds timeline
CBC News Online | Updated Jan. 29, 2007
1980
Surveys conducted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans in Sydney Harbour discover high levels of PCB, mercury, lead and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the harbour's lobster.
1982
The federal government shuts down lobster fisheries in the area because of the contamination.
November 7, 1986
Federal and provincial governments provide $34.4 million in funding to dredge and clean the Muggah Creek where the tar ponds had formed. The money is also designated to build an incinerator that would better deal with the coke-ovens' byproducts. Cost overruns result in an eventual price tag of $55 million in funding.
July 1, 1988
Sysco stops using coke ovens and switches to electric arc furnaces.
January 15, 1996
The federal and provincial governments admit that the incinerator which they had funded 10 years earlier does not work. Instead they propose to cover the tar ponds with top soil and flag, a byproduct of steel production. This proposition leads to a huge public outcry among Sydney residents.
August 12, 1996
The Joint Action Group (JAG) is created to deal with the tar pond problem. JAG is made up of members from the federal, provincial, and municipal government as well as members of the Sydney community.
March 1998
Residents of Sydney begin to complain of toxic ooze seeping into their cellars.
June 1999
The federal and provincial governments give $62 million to JAG to conduct studies regarding the tar ponds, hire a consulting firm to do testing, and devise different solutions to the problem.
July 2000
As part of his election campaign, Premier John Hamm promises to stop government subsidies to the Sysco plant. The plant is subsequently closed.
May 2, 2001
Elizabeth May, executive director of the Sierra Club of Canada, begins 17 day hunger strike to demand relocation of residents.
May 18, 2001
Health Minister Allan Rock announces that the government would fund a relocation of the residents of Sydney if tests could prove there was a health risk in the area.
July 6, 2001
Public health officers test 237 people for lead and arsenic exposure. Only 45 of the 237 test results have been reported so far, but of those, two children have tested positive for high levels of both lead and arsenic in their urine.
August, 2001
Thirty-six sewage outfalls continue to pour 13 million litres of untreated waste into the tar ponds every day. The provincial government, which has run Sysco as a Crown corporation since 1967, recently sold the company to the Swiss firm Duferco Farellis. As well, studies continue to try to determine if the tar ponds create a serious health risk to the citizens of Sydney.
Dec. 4, 2001
A provincial and federal report released in Nova
Scotia concludes the Sydney tar ponds are as safe as any other urban part of the
province. Environmentalists with the Sierra Club were skeptical of the report, which they believe "massaged" the raw data to make it more acceptable.
Jan. 9, 2002
Fifty new signs are put up every 50 metres on the fences around the tar
ponds and coke ovens sites, warning of the environmental hazards. The "Human Health Hazard" signs join the "No Trespassing" signs already on the fences.
March 6, 2002
A government testing program determines it's safe to live close to the tar ponds. More than 300 soil samples are taken in areas around Sydney, but researchers say only one sample had unsafe levels of toxins. Many people in the community aren't convinced.
Aug. 16, 2002
About half of the 90 people eligible to have their contaminated properties cleaned up by the province sign up. Some people demand to be relocated instead. Others say a clause in the waiver prevents them from suing the government later.
Oct. 22, 2002
Ottawa's environmental watchdog criticizes how the federal government is handling the tar ponds cleanup. Environment Commissioner
Johanne Gelinas says despite millions of dollars already spent, the government still has no clear plan. A few days later, Environment Minister David Anderson and Robert Thibault, Nova Scotia's representative in the federal cabinet, meet with Sydney residents. "This is primarily a provincial responsibility, but we want to work with the municipality," says Thibault.
Feb. 18, 2003
The federal government brings down its budget, saying it will spend $340 million over two years to help clean contaminated sites across the country. Sydney residents and politicians wonder how much of that money will be spent in Nova Scotia.
Feb. 24, 2003
Sydney residents are presented with six options for cleaning up the tar ponds and four for the coke ovens sites. The options range from burying contaminated material to washing it and burning it to produce energy. The cost of cleaning up the sites ranges from $140 million to $440 million. The process could take up to 11 years.
March 5, 2003
The Sierra Club of Canada calls for a full panel review of the tar ponds cleanup, claiming the list of 10 options are ineffective and unsafe. It's estimated such a review, similar to a royal commission, would take up to three years to complete. Government officials aren't supportive.
March 26, 2003
A study by Health Canada suggests the closer you live to the tar ponds site, the greater the health risk. A cancer specialist examined death rates from 1961 to 1988 and concluded there were 17 more deaths per year in Whitney Pier and Ashby, communities closest to the tar ponds, than the national average. The study follows up an earlier one from 1998.
April 7, 2003
A group founded by the Sierra Club releases a study suggesting all three neighbourhoods that border the tar ponds are contaminated. The People's Health Commission says there are higher than normal levels of arsenic and lead in dust particles inside homes near the site. The Sydney Tar Ponds Agency reacts, saying children in those neighbourhoods have already been tested and no one had elevated levels of lead.
May 6, 2003
Sydney residents choose two of the most expensive technologies for cleaning up the tar ponds and coke ovens sites. The picks include washing the soil and burning it to produce energy. The combined costs add up to $450 million over seven years.
June 12, 2003
Residents living near the Point Aconi power plant in Cape Breton refuse to allow waste from the tar ponds anywhere near them.
In May, the Joint Action Group (JAG) recommended washing the contaminated soil and burning it at a plant to produce energy.
The JAG later promises to organize a new workbook session for the Point Aconi residents so they can voice their opinions about the cleanup.
June 26, 2003
A spokesperson for the Sydney Tar Ponds Agency suggests the cost to burn waste from the tar ponds and coke ovens will be close to $1 billion.
In a leaked memo, Parker Donham also dismisses the Joint Action Group's community relations work in Point Aconi as "inept."
Despite calls for Donham's resignation, the agency refuses to discipline him.
August 2003
Trucks start transporting the toxic sludge from the old Domtar tank in Sydney to an incinerator in Ville Mercier, Que. About 1,000 tonnes of coal tar oil is trucked over two months.
August 2003
Excavators remove an assortment of debris including steel, lumber, concrete, glass and brick from the coke ovens site.
The surface work needs to be done before the remediation of the soil and the big job of cleaning up the tar ponds.
Sept. 17, 2003
The Joint Action Group packs up seven years' worth of reports and notes after finishing its mandate.
The group, which was set up in 1996 to give residents a say in how to clean up the tar ponds, will be replaced by a 15-member community liaison committee.
September 2003
The Sydney Tar Ponds Agency determines there are no high levels of the chemical toluene polluting the air above Sydney.
The agency blames faulty equipment for high readings over the summer.
February 2004
Although there is no cleanup agreement in place, the province and the federal government disagree over how to split the bill.
Ottawa wants Nova Scotia to pay 50 per cent of the total costs, which could top $400 million. Premier John Hamm says the province cannot afford to may more than 30 per cent.
February 2004
The province agrees to buy and demolish two homes near the former coke ovens site.
There's a remediation program in place to pay for the cleanup of about 55 contaminated properties in the Whitney Pier area. The two homes are so contaminated with arsenic, lead and other toxic materials, however, that it's cheaper to demolish them.
March 23, 2004
In the federal budget, Prime Minister Paul Martin's government pledges $500 million over 10 years to clean up certain sites, including the contaminated tar ponds. It's unclear how much of that money will be spent in Sydney.
March 25, 2004
Four people launch a lawsuit against the province, the federal government, and several companies involved in steelmaking at the tar ponds. They're seeking compensation for health problems and property losses.
The complainants hope their case will eventually become a class-action suit involving thousands of Sydney residents.
May 3, 2004
The province and the federal government start negotiations over cost sharing for the cleanup.
Negotiators are tight-lipped about the meeting, which takes place at an undisclosed location in Halifax.
May 12, 2004
Federal and provincial politicians sign a 10-year, $400-million cleanup deal. Ottawa will contribute $280 million with the province providing the rest. The cleanup will involve digging up the most contaminated materials and burning them. The rest of the site will be treated and capped.
Feb. 9, 2005
An abandoned Cape Breton coal wash plant is chosen as the location for the controversial incinerator designed to burn the toxins. The government, anxious to get rid of this problem, is up against environmentalists and community activists, who fear burning the toxins will expose people in the area to even greater health risks. A 30-day public review begins to determine whether the government or an independent review panel will analyse the safety of this plan.
January 28, 2007
The federal and provincial governments announce a plan to bury, not burn, contents of the tar pits. The cost is the same as the scheme to burn the contents of the pits, $400 million. The toxic sludge is to be mixed with a concrete-like substance and allowed to solidify, officials say. The area will then be covered with a plastic sheet, layered with soil and planted with grass. Some local residents have expressed disquiet, saying they expected a clean up, not a cover up. The local authority though has approved the plan, calling it the "least risky" option. According to the schedule announced by the two governments, work is expected to begin this summer with actual capping of the waste-dumping site taking place in 2008. The project could take up to eight years to complete, according to environmentalists.
^TOP
|
|
 |
 MENU |
|
|
| EXTERNAL LINKS: |
|
|
| MORE: |
|
|
|
CBC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content of external sites. Links will open in new window.
