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Funding announced to begin clean-up of sites in Labrador The Minister of Environment and Labour, Oliver Langdon, announced today funding is being made available in the 1997/98 budget to begin a clean-up of the abandoned fuel drums and containers at two sites in Labrador. The Department of Environment and Labour has allocated $12,500 to initiate the removal of abandoned fuel drums and other materials from former military sites at Northwest Point and Hopedale. The clean-up of these sites will be undertaken in two phases. The first phase involves clearing the area and removing any waste materials, such as drums and containers. The second phase involves an evaluation of soil contamination at the site and further clean-up. Mr. Langdon stated that "the $12,500 allocation is sufficient to cover the cost of removing debris from the two sites in Labrador. When this phase is complete, we will undertake a further assessment of the sites for contamination and identify the cost of clean-up." In the mid-1980s, the federal government advanced $5.5 million to the province to clean-up 12 contaminated sites in Labrador. Since then, residual environmental problems have been discovered at three sites - Northwest Point, Hopedale and Border Beacon. The problems are mainly abandoned drums and hydrocarbon contamination. Minister Langdon stated that "the sites at Hopedale and Northwest Point are our immediate concern as they are being used by local residents. The Border Beacon site is still in use and over time, the department will examine how best to deal with the clean-up of this site and who should be held liable for the cost." It is expected that Phase I of the clean-up will be completed in the fall of this year.
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