Harbour dredging to impair use of Gordon Fields in Whitby for years

Whitby’s years-long Harbour clean-up project will impact the use of the adjacent Gordon Fields so the federal government can extend the amount of lakebed they can clean.

The federal government owns the harbour through the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. The town and the Whitby Boat Club lease the land from the feds. Testing has revealed a chemical leak, possibly decades ago, up on Pringle Creek led to the contamination.

The chemicals specifically are called dioxins and furans. They are mostly produced by burning municipal and medical waste but are also caused by iron and steel production; fuel, wood, and household waste burning; and tobacco smoke.

The dioxins and furans generally linger in the air and as a result, can spread across the planet. However, in this case, they leaked directly into the water. Once introduced into the environment, the dioxin and furans begin to work their way up the food chain. Smaller creatures ingest small amounts and the chemicals remain stored in their body fat. Larger creatures in turn eat the smaller ones and collect more dioxins and furans.

Department of Fisheries testing found the sediment at the bottom of the lake, “contain levels of chemicals that could be harmful to fish, birds or humans.” While they also noted the risk to human health remains low to moderate, the lake still needs to be cleaned up.

As such the federal government is set to clean up the harbour with a hydraulic dredger with work expected to begin later this year. Ontario is responsible for cleaning up Pringle Creek.

The dredger basically sucks the sediment from the bottom of the lake and sends it to a drainage area. The clean water then drains from the sediment and flows back into the lake. The dried-out sediment will then be shipped to a disposal facility.

In April, the town reached an agreement with the federal government to expand the work area to Gordon Fields. The expanded work site will allow the federal team to reach more of the contaminated sediment on two of the town’s water lots.

Council also approved work on the Promenade Lake Park to hold the sediment as it dries out. Allowing the federal team to use these lots saved the town more than $1 million, than undertaking the work itself.

The project will run from July 15, 2024 to October 31, 2026. As a result numerous events like Canada Day, India Day, Ribfest will be effected. The town is weighing its options on relocating these events.