The site is serviced with a 24” water supply line from the Sydney River water supply, which has the capacity to deliver 4 to 5 million gallons (18 to 23 million litres) per day of chlorinated water, suitable for potable and process water. As a general rule, water distribution pipes are located near and around the old SYSCO buildings, and were not extended into remote areas of the property. Both the po-table/process water and sprinkler systems are shown on Figure 3.2. Although the age of these water lines is not known, the majority of the sprinkler system was installed during the 1970’s. It is believed that the water lines are suitable for re-use.

Sewer Supply

The Sydney Tars Ponds Agency is constructing an interceptor sewer from the MAID site, through the Coke Ovens property, and along the front of the SYSCO site as part of a regional approach to collect and treat sewage within the Sydney harbour watershed. The SYSCO property currently has eight outfalls: five into Blast Furnace Cove and three into Muggah Creek at the south tar pond. As with the water distribution system, existing sewage treatment collection pipes are clustered around existing or old building sites, with very little infrastructure located in slag fill areas such as the high dump, as shown on Figure 3.2. A survey assessment of the sewer infrastructure is required to determine suitability for re-use.

Electrical

The current electrical system found on the SYSCO site is an eclectic mix of redundant power systems built over a 100 year period. Over the decades, the overriding concern when installing new services was to make sure that the up-grades did not jeopardize on-going operation of the mill. Conversely, many old systems were left in place, as the SYSCO engineers were unsure if their removal would leave critical pieces of machinery without power. The result is a large amount of surplus and/or redundant equipment, all of which is owned and operated by SYSCO. The layout is shown on Figure 3.3.

In a meeting held in January of 2001, Nova Scotia Power (NSP) made known their intentions to NOT take over the electrical equipment on the SYSCO site. Instead, new tenants and power users on the site would need to be serviced individually from the existing NSP distribution grid. The existing SYSCO power grid functions at a distribution voltage of 2300 volts, the old industry standard which was sufficient for the needs of the steel mill. NSP has recently finished costly upgrades to its systems province wide to eliminate all 2300 volt distribution and maintain a 12,500 volt distribution grid.

When it was in full production, the site used three main electrical substations: North substation, South substation, and Substation #1. Substation #1 formerly housed a 69 kV transformer that supplied the necessary voltage to run the incinerator. When this transformer failed, a suitable replacement could not be found. With the incinerator not functioning, a smaller transformer was installed in its place to maintain lights and heat in the SERL buildings. This transformer will not support the incinerator. The north and south substations have 50 MVA capacities, and are in very good condition. These two substations are interconnected, meaning that either can supply power to the entire site.

The Static Var substation is a smaller substation on site, and was specifically de-signed to power the electric arc furnace. It can be decommissioned when the furnace is sold. The No. 2 powerhouse receives 23,000 volts and steps down to 6,600 and 2,300 volts, and converts the AC power to DC for the use of the majority of the cranes. It also supplies the 6,600 volt to the Sydney River potable & process water pumping station.

It is possible to disconnect the Sydney River pumping station, the administration building, and the gate and security buildings from the internal system and feed them directly from the NSP grid, thus enabling the decommissioning of the No. 2 powerhouse, although the reconnection may trigger a re-evaluation of the fee structure charged by NSP. The rectifiers and associated equipment can be removed from No. 2 powerhouse and installed into a new electrical room with a minimum size 20’x20’.

Required electrical upgrades to the site include a new electrical line to the wharf, which is currently fed 2,300 volts from the north substation. The anticipated cost of this upgrade is $50,000 to $100,000.