Municipality Addresses Contaminated Soil
Additional details on financial incentives and arsenic levels released.
In an official memo to the board of West Nipissing Environmental Services (WNES) released this week, the Director of Infrastructure for West Nipissing, Elizabeth Henning, outlined the municipality's involvement in what she described as a “large” environmental project that has caused concerns locally.
“Recently there has been public concern regarding the role of West Nipissing in the Remediation Project taking place at the Serpent River, former Cutler Acid Plant; this is a large Federally Funded remediation project designed to clean up impacted soils off the Serpent River First Nation Land.” - Elizabeth Henning, Director of Infrastructure
Last month, a representative from Serpent River First Nation (SRFN) updated the community on the ongoing remediation of the former acid plant mine where the soil contains high concentrations of arsenic. In passing, it was announced that Sturgeon Falls, over 200 kilometers away, was chosen as the disposal site for the contaminated soil.
SRFN’s Environmental Coordinator told the public that 8,000 metric tonnes of soil has so far been transported to Sturgeon Falls with more expected to arrive in 2025.
The federal government is supporting SRFN after the first nation community suffered through decades of severe deforestation, chronic health problems and impacts on their water table.
WNES Board Meeting Moved Ahead
With the public reaction and seeming lack of direction from the board, the municipality decided to reschedule their next meeting to address this issue directly.
The first item to be discussed on Monday (January 13th) is “Contaminated Soil”.
More Information Provided
The memo released ahead of the meeting does answer additional questions many have raised.
Henning states in her memo that there has been some testing for the batches received from SRFN which have shown arsenic levels in the soil from 67 to 430 µg/g (parts per million). While this soil cannot stay in SRFN, Henning notes that that is below this municipality’s acceptable threshold.
The memo also stated that accepting contaminated soil is an important revenue source for WNES. Henning notes that West Nipissing received a total of $237,378 in 2024 for accepting contaminated soil. This was a significant increase from 2023 when the municipality accepted $17,835 and from 2022 when they accepted $45,375.
Public and Board Reaction
When the West Nip Voice reported on this story last month, some current and former board members of the Environmental board addressed the public’s concern.
Board member, Dave Lewington acknowledged that while the municipality has accepted contaminated soil in the past, this project seemed to go beyond what has been previously approved. He stated that he believed more information should be made available to board members and especially the public.
Former councillor and Chair of the Environmental Board, Paul Finlay made a public statement criticizing the decision to greatly expand the practice of accepting contaminated soil. “I find this matter most distressing,” Finley stated. “While there has always been a policy regarding acceptance of contaminated soil, this was limited to low-level waste, such as material from decommissioned service stations, which was used as a cover at the landfill.”
While the added information is welcomed, many will still wonder if the financial incentive is worth environmental risks.
The board meeting is open to the public and will be held in council chambers at City Hall on Monday, January 13th at 6PM.
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Arsenic levels are within the Municipalities acceptable threshold WOW these levels are not acceptable for serpent river but OK for west nipissing. What am I missing here, counselors do your job and protect the public and help staff see the light, That's enough fix it.
You would think that over $237,000 would have offset most of our property tax increase. Not that I think bringinging contaminated soil is worth ANY amount.