Teck to start building $4-mill groundwater treatment plant
By Contributor
Ed. Note: The following is a press release issued by Teck:
Teck Trail Operations will begin construction on a $40 million groundwater treatment plant as part of our overall groundwater remediation plan. The remediation plan was submitted to Environment Canada in 2012, and is designed to address groundwater affected by the site’s historical activities.
The groundwater is not used for drinking water and studies conducted to date have found that the fish populations in the river are not affected by the groundwater and the water quality of the river meets drinking water standards.
The remediation plan includes interception of the affected groundwater using a series of wells, two of which have already been constructed. The groundwater will be conveyed to the treatment plant for treatment prior to discharge into the Columbia River. The discharged water will meet all regulatory requirements.
The affected groundwater consists of variable concentrations of ammonia, sulphate and some metals, and is located directly beneath Trail Operations, under the Columbia River, and a portion of East Trail. The substances are believed to have originated from historical operations and storage of materials prior to the 1980s.
Three monitoring wells will also be installed this spring within Gyro Park and along Dyke Road in East Trail. Pedestrian and vehicle access may be temporarily impacted during the work, but alternate routes will be marked. The well installation will be completed during daylight hours from Monday through Saturday, beginning March 16, 2014. Each well will take approximately one week to install. The wells will assist in delineation of the area of affected groundwater and enable us to monitor the efficiency of the remediation system.
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