November 26, 2009

CANADIAN FORCES

CFB Goose Bay, also known as as 5 Wing Goose Bay or Goose Bay Airport.

FEATURE | Demolition & environmental engineering

$300-million clean up takes flight in Goose Bay, Labrador

PETER KENTER

correspondent

GOOSE BAY, N.L.

The government of Canada has announced a $300-million project to clean up environmental contamination at Canadian Forces Base 5 Wing Goose Bay in Newfoundland and Labrador under the Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan.

The base was constructed in the 1940s by Canada and the United States Air Force to stage aircraft heading to Britain during the Cold War.

Planes require fuel, and lots of it. Over the years, millions of litres of fuel have been transported to the base by ship and stored in tank farms connected by 160 km of pipelines.

“Due to the remote location of the Wing and the fact that environmental standards were different than those we consider acceptable today, most of the materials generated through the Wing’s daily operations were disposed of on the property until about the 1990s,” says Craig Wells, the remediation project manager.

The Goose Bay Remediation project was actually launched in 2004 with the commencement of an assessment phase that mapped out contaminated sites.

More than 100 individual contaminated sites, which have been grouped into 10 larger sub-projects, have already been identified.

“We still have two years’ worth of assessment work to go,” says Wells.

“But, we’ve started remediation at some other sites and we’ll phase in remediation projects as we fill in the gaps and get approvals for sub-projects.”

Some of the projects already underway include tearing out leaking valve boxes associated with underground pipelines which are the suspected source of hydrocarbon contamination.

A fuel extraction system was installed in 2008 to remove fuel from the subsurface.

Monitoring wells and test pits were installed to define the extent of hydrocarbon contamination.

Historical reviews of the area and investigations of underground pipelines found significant volumes of fuel in the ground around four hydrant areas, a series of aircraft refueling systems fed by underground pipelines.

The next step: is to evaluate risk management or clean-up options.

A trench designed to intercept hydrocarbon contaminated groundwater was re-built in 2006 to improve its effectiveness.

The trench forms a 750-metre protective barrier to prevent fuel from entering surface waters south of the base.

A hydrogeological study of the south escarpment has also mapped the migration of contaminated groundwater from former dumps located along the South Escarpment.

Computer models show contaminated groundwater may reach the Trans Labrador Highway within 20 years.

Remedial options developed in 2008 are being evaluated to determine the most effective strategy.

Contracts being offered over the coming decade will include: remediation system design, installation and operation; water and soil sampling and monitoring; solid and hazardous waste removal; earthworks and drilling; construction and demolition; clearance of unexploded ordnance; snow clearing; and heavy equipment repair and maintenance.

“The active remediation phase should be completed by 2020,” says Wells.

“But follow-up work will be required .”

Print | Email | Comment