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| Phase1 - Environmental
Site Assessment Report |
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| The SYSCO Docks (Piers 3 and 4) are
located at the northwest end of the infilled lands (Figure 5-1).
This 20-hectare area was created in the 1960s and 70s to allow for
the construction of new marginal piers. Blast furnace slag was again
used as the primary fill material. As with all of the infilled lands,
it is possible that fill materials were placed on top of contaminated
Muggah Creek sediments, regardless of whether the filling took place
in 1920 or 1980. |
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Looking Northeast at
the No. 3 and 4 Piers c. 1980 (Beaton Institute) |
The Dock facilities are located west of the High Dump area adjacent to the Sydney Harbour. Features at the Dock Facility include two loading and unloading cranes, wharf storage and laydown areas and support buildings. Several railway tracks are located along the marginal piers and east towards the No. 2 Open Hearth, some of which have been abandoned and covered with slag | ||
Environmental issues of concern associated with the rail tracks include creosote rail ties and potential contaminated soil under and adjacent to the tracks. In the past, used oil was often used for dust suppression on roadways on the steel plant property. The results of testing performed by JDAC in 2000/2001 indicate that one borehole location, MCES-004-MW, is located within this area. Soil samples collected from this borehole did not exceed the CCME commercial guideline values for the parameters analysed. However a surface soil sample (MCES-002-SS) collected in this area exceeded CCME commercial guideline value for chromium. The majority of open space in this area is covered with granular
materials. Slopes at certain locations show signs of surface erosion.
Overland drainage in the area may present the possibility of siltation
and sediment impacts to receiving waters. |
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| Potential Environmental Issues | |||
| Potential environmental issues associated
with the Dock facilities include surface impacts from petroleum hydrocarbon
transfer piping, lead based paints, asbestos insulation and contaminated
soil associated with the storage and laydown areas. Potential environmental issues also include fill and groundwater contamination associated with potential industrial waste disposal, including heavy metals, and petroleum hydrocarbons. The potential also exists for coal tar (PAH, HNC) or PCBs contamination to have impacted groundwater and subsurface soils due to infiltration from the Tar Ponds. Coal tar-contaminated sediment may be present beneath the fill in this area. |
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Looking west at the No. 3 Dock. In the background,
scrap steel is being loaded onto a ship at the No. 4 Dock. |
Blast furnace slag was widely used as a fill material in this area. Various heavy metals are known to be present in blast furnace slag, but often in a highly immobile state. An important part of future environmental testing at this site will be the appropriate evaluation of heavy metal impacts in relations to their environmental risk. | ||
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