Restoration of Port Hope’s Lake Ontario shoreline, plus new jobs associated with low-level radioactive waste cleanup, are ready to go, says the federal natural resources minister.

Minister of Natural Resources Joe Oliver announced the government is investing $1.28 billion over 10 years to fund phase two of the waste cleanup in Port Hope and Port Granby in Clarington, during a news conference Jan. 13, at the Port Hope Area Initiative office on Toronto Road.

“This billion-dollar project is unlike anything ever done before in Canada,” said Mr. Oliver. “This investment underscores the government’s long-standing commitment to clean up historic low-level radioactive waste in the Port Hope area. We will continue to work closely with the communities to resolve the waste issue and create new opportunities for development and economic growth in this region.”

Phase 1 of the project — planning, environmental research, getting community feedback and filling in the blanks on how to do the cleanup thoroughly and safely — is now complete. The money will allow the project’s second phase to begin, which includes construction of new long-term waste management facilities and supporting infrastructure, cleanup/restoration of contaminated sites and transportation of the waste to the storage sites, one in Port Hope and the other in Clarington’s Port Granby.

Northumberland – Quinte West MP Rick Norlock said, “it’s all about the jobs.” Mr. Norlock said the cleanup is expected to create hundreds of direct and indirect jobs in a wide range of fields, including engineering, construction, trucking and support services.

“It will also involve necessary infrastructure developments and improvements that will benefit the region for many years to come,” he said.

Port Hope Mayor Linda Thompson said the announcement translates into a “fabulous day” for Port Hope. Mayor Thompson thanked everyone involved over the past decade — residents, federal officials, and former councils. She made special note of former mayor Rick Austin, now Ward 1 Councillor, whose signature is on the 2001 legal agreement reached with the federal government to clean up the historic waste. The waste was left behind from radium/uranium refining operations of the former crown corporation Eldorado Nuclear and its private sector predecessors beginning in the 1930s through 1988.

“Today’s funding announcement confirms the federal government’s ongoing commitment to the Port Hope Area Initiative… good news for the project and good news for Port Hope,” she added.

Mr. Oliver said residents have had to live with the waste issue a long time, dealing with a big problem left behind by an industry that operated and provided local jobs for decades, “a problem left for this generation to fix.

“Yes, this project is expected to cost more than first thought,” he said. “But the government is committed to do it right and do it now.”

See the original story by Jeanne Beneteau via NorthumberlandNews Article: Ottawa antes up cash for Port Hope waste cleanup.