It might look mysterious, but rest assured, there’s no oil drilling going on off the shores of Ajax.

A barge is moored several hundred metres off Rotary Park as workers drill bore holes for Durham and York regions.

It’s part of the work to expand the Duffin Creek water pollution control plant, located between the Pickering nuclear station and Rotary Park in Ajax. A new outflow pipe might be needed for the expanded plant, so the drilling is needed to investigate soil conditions at the bottom of the lake.

Jim McGilton, the manager of engineering planning and studies for Durham, says the barge has a drilling rig on top.

“They’re drilling bore holes in the lake bottom. They want to find out the different types of soils and the depths of soils,” Mr. McGilton says.

The regions have hired a geotechnical company to do the work. The barge will be off shore through the summer.

“In the fall, the weather turns and the water conditions won’t allow them to work,” he states.

“They’ll drill at various distances and graph the soil layers,” Mr. McGilton notes. “If they put an outfall in, they need to decide which soil layer it will be in. Different soils are easier to work in.”

If tunnelling is done, “they need to know the exact depth and distance,” he adds.

The outfall pipe carries effluent that’s been treated in the plant back out into the lake.

An environmental assessment on whether to build a new outfall is expected to start this fall.

“We need the preliminary information for the EA,” Mr. McGilton notes. “It’s possible they’ll put a new outflow for the Duffin Creek water pollution control plant.”

The hope is to have the EA work done by the end of the year, he says.

via durhamregion.com | That’s no oil rig.