Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change Catherine McKenna visited Hamilton on Friday for a media briefing and photo-op at the site of the ongoing $140-million dollar cleanup operation.
As part of the brief, the above video was released explaining the project, including the work to build the “engineered containment facility” which will surround the most toxic area of the Reef. The ECF consists of “double steel sheet pile walls” driven to depths of up to 24 metres into the lake bed below the contaminated area. The remaining toxic sediment around the container will be dredged and placed inside. In areas of lower contamination, a new layer of sand will top and contain contamination.
The project is expected to be completed in 2022.