INTRODUCTION
Port Hope is a town in Canada that has a long history. It has evolved through many names which include Ganaraske, – Pimidaichekontoyng, – Fat Fire Creek, – Pemitescutiang, – Cochingomink, – Hope Mills, – The Flats, – Smith’s Creek, – Toronto. These English, French and Indian names were used to refer to the same site from 1660 up to 1819 when the town was named Port Hope, a name it has retained up to the present. It is a tiny settlement that lies on the banks of a shallow swift flowing creek that empties into a natural harbor, north shore of the now called Lake Ontario. The port hope and the surrounding areas are situated on clay plain with limestone base that was formed as a result of the process of the ancient Lake Iroquois receding to the boundaries of the present Lake Ontario. This paper will give a brief history of this Canadian town, Port Hope, how it started, the ancient inhabitants of this small settlement area, the activities that were carried out on this town and its surrounding areas. It will majorly focus to bring out the idea of the nuclear industry in Port Hope, the history of the industry, the radioactive wastes as a result of the industry based there. It will also give the impacts of the radioactive nuclear wastes to the people and the surrounding environmental features. The paper will also show the cleanup exercise of the waste materials and the progress it has taken up to the present. Maps will be used to illustrate some features of this region. Finally, there will be recommendations on the wastes management of the radioactive effluents from the nuclear industries based in this town.
Port Hope was a rich land that favored the growth of crops such as grains and fruits. This rich land was brought as a result of clay silt plains that resulted when Lake Iroquois receded to the boundaries of Lake Ontario. The lake has an abundance of fish such as salmon and trout. The surrounding forested land has birds and small game, making this area to be generally known to have rich natural resources (LaDuke. 370).
The very first inhabitants of this area were the Huron Indians and the Cayugas in the early 17th century. They majorly practiced fishing and went hunting as their main economic activity. Changes in settlement began when the Iroquois began launching raids and attacks on the Hurons creating an environment of insecurity in the area. Due to this state of lawlessness that developed in this area, the Cayugas shifted to the North Shore of Lake Huron. After Iroquois successfully displaced the Cayugas, they did not settle here but they used the area for their economic activities like fishing, hunting and traded their fur with the English and French who set up their trading centers on the Hudson River. These activities went till the mid-1660s when the Iroquois finally set up their settlements there.
The Iroquois established their settlements here at Ganaraske where they traded fur among other economic activities that kept them going. This went on till 1663 when Canada became a royal province of France and the French planned to take back the fur trade from the already dominant Iroquois. Later in the late 1660s after the establishment of missions under the reign of Father D’Urfe, the Mississauga Indians arrived and took over the settlements of the Iroquois displacing them to other neighboring regions. The French ruled over the region and during their reign, there were three Indian settlements along the routes that joined to the interior of the region. They advanced the fur trade and made it their main economic activity in the region (Miller et al.10)
The British later in 1763 took over the reign of Canada followed by the American Revolution twelve years later that changed almost everything that was already established by the Ganaraske. The American Revolution began the process of transforming and changing the shape of Canada and building Port Hope into an important center. In 1793, permanent settlements were established by the United Empire Loyalists in Port hope which became the European heritage. At this time, industries were being developed to replace the fur trade. The town was also gradually developing as a result of these permanent settlements and the development of industries. The town acquired its new name o port Hope after the war of 1812 and more British settlers took over the town prompting for the new name. the town was finally renamed Port Hope after a lieutenant governor of the Province of Quebec, Colonel Henry Hope, a name it has retained up to date.
Between the years of 1881 to 1951, the town assumed a slow growth which resulted in the towns original structures not being demolished to pave way for new structural designs. This made the town to preserve its original architecture and it is celebrated as the best preserved 19th-century town in Ontario. This makes it a national heritage for Canada in the restoration and preservation of its ancient buildings. The businesses at the downtown are also regulated to ensure that the town does not change its shape since it has more than 270 buildings of heritage that have been preserved from long before throughout the municipality (Veen & Dave. 18).
A picture showing ancient view of Port Hope as drawn by William Bartlett
The nuclear wastes in Port Hope
Despite the beautiful serenity of this town and the hard-earned historical heritage of Port Hope, this town suffers a big challenge of radioactive wastes disposal right in it. There are various sites in the municipality of Port Hope that are contaminated with low-level radioactive wastes and contaminated soil. This contamination has resulted to job crisis in the area since it has reduced the potentiality of job creation enterprises in Port Hope.
These deposits of radioactive wastes are end results of past practices that involved radium and uranium refinery by a former federal crown corporation called Eldorado Nuclear Limited together with its private sector predecessors. The waste disposal materials contain radium-226, uranium, arsenic among other contaminants that are as a result of the refinery process. In entire Canada, the low-level wastes consisting of soil contaminated with uranium and radium are located in the sites of Northwest Territories, British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario (Jovanovic et al. 9015).
Initially, the wastes were managed in a way that is currently outdated and no longer acceptable but the owner cannot be held responsible for the waste management strategy used. The radioactive wastes in Canada date back to the early 1930s. This is the time the first radium and uranium mine began to be operational at Port Radium located in the Northwest Territories of Canada. Pitchblende ore was transported through the Northern transportation route from the Northwest Territories to Port Hope, Ontario. The ore would then go through the refinery processes to produce radium for medicinal use. Uranium was later used as nuclear fuel and in military operations.
A large percentage of Canada’s historical wastes are found in the Ontario and the communities of Port Hope and Clarington. The wastes and contaminated soils combined forms a volume about 2 million cubic meters and this denotes the extent of the historic operation of radium and uranium refinery in the Port Hope municipality, an activity that has a long history (Abu-Khader. 225).
The historic low-level radioactive wastes are found in the Ontario municipalities of Port Hope and Clarington. The wastes are currently not being produced further. They resulted from the radium and uranium refining by a former federal crown corporation and its other private sector associates in the years between the 1930s and 1980s.
Health risks posed by the radioactive nuclear wastes in Port Hope
Generally, in an area dominated by radioactive wastes, there are fears that they might pose very great risks to human health, plants, and animals. This is the reason as to why there were multiple petitions and queries being raised by concerned individuals in regards to the health effects of the much-contaminated soils of the Port Hope and the Ontario River by the low-level radioactive uranium and radium wastes. Due to these fears, various studies have been conducted in Port Hope by the government, Non-governmental organizations and other health strategy institutions on the health risks posed by the radioactive wastes in port hope and contrasting them to Canada’s national health standards (Reinhardt. 2).
The various studies that have been conducted in the whole area of the Port Hope and Ontario on the impacts of the radioactive wastes on the health include the following:
Cancer incidence in Port Hope, 1971-1996
These study released in the year 2000 and was monitored between 1971 and 1996 showed that the cancer cases in Port Hope were within the expected levels in comparison with other areas In Canada considering the provincial cancer rates. There was no evidence to show that there were increased cases of leukemia in both children and adults in Port Hope as compared to other areas within the enclosure of Canadian territory. This study, therefore, was a proof that indeed the radioactive wastes were of low level and did not have risks on the general health of the people of the Port Hope (Hocke & Ortwin. 927).
Cancer and general mortality in port hope, 1956-1997
This review was released in the year 2002 and it identified and compared the total cancer deaths in Port Hope with other parts of the country as per the provincial cancer death reports. The study showed that the cancer deaths in the Port Hope are within the expected levels. It also showed that there were no escalated levels of leukemia cases in Port Hope both in adults and in children. This study, however, found out that there were increased cases of circulatory diseases in Port Hope but did not prove that it was as a result of the environmental factors exhibited in Port Hope (Krauskopf. 6).
Health data and statistics for the population of Port Hope, 1986-1992
This study was conducted between the years of 1986 and 1992 by the Great Lakes health effect program and Port Hope Harbor Area of Concern. Released in 1998, it dwelt on the morbidity, mortality, incidences of cancer and birth defects in the Port Hope. The statistics released showed that there was no difference in these cases between Port Hope and the rest of the Ontario Population. This, therefore, shows that the study still held that the low-level radioactive wastes did not affect the health of the population of Port Hope on the basis of the health factors that were examined.
Study of childhood leukemia around Canadian nuclear facilities
This study was conducted in 1989 in children aged 0-4 years. It examined the leukemia mortality and incident reports on children living around nuclear power plants and factories and mines for mining and refinery of uranium. The study showed no increased risks of such cases in the study areas thereby proving no relation between the low-level radioactive wastes and the leukemia cases in the region around the deposits of such wastes (Case. 8).
Apart from the above studies that have been conducted in Port Hope, several other prior studies and intermediate studies have been conducted in the area and still, they depict that there are no health risks as a result of exposure to the radioactive waste substances. The background radiation of Port hope has been found to be within the levels of other parts of the country. Generally, the exposure of these substances are monitored and they are ascertained that they do not pose any health risks to the people of Port Hope.
The program of monitoring the deposits of these radioactive wastes to the environment was stopped in 2003 based on the fact that there was no scientific evidence to prove that the wastes exposed the population of Port Hope to health risk. The levels of radium in drinking water were tested between the years 1993 -2003 and were found to be below the limits that can be detected. Other measurements like the monitoring of the radioactive elements in the atmospheric air showed consistency with other areas in Canadian atmospheric space (Fahey. 20).
Despite all these studies showing consistency in health incidence cases with other regions, there should not be absolute ignorance on the impact of these radioactive substances on the health as there may be certain effects in the body that is on the onset and have not reached the detection level even after thorough tests. It is for this reason that the Canadian government should develop an effective radioactive waste management strategy that will eliminate the wastes from the Port Hope in totality.
What is being done?
The fascinating thing about the radioactive wastes in the port is that the waste generation or deposition processes have seized functioning and the wastes are no longer being produced. This means that the only thing that needs to be done to correct the situation is finding an appropriate waste management strategy that will eliminate the wastes from the town. The Port Hope Area Initiative (PHAI) has been initiated by the community to conduct the cleanup of the area and restore the friendly environment of the Port Hope.
PHAI has initiated programs that are currently underway and will ensure long-term management and total cleanup of Port Hope and Port Granby area that is found southeast of Clarington and eradicate the wastes in totality. The cleanup generally involves the construction of above-ground mound and long-term management of 1.7million cubic meters of radioactive wastes. The project is expected to take a period of 10years and will cleanup wastes at various Porte Hope locations and transport it to where the long-term storage sites have been constructed. The Ottawa is going to spend a total of about 1.28billion US dollars on this project to be able to contain these radioactive wastes.
The Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL) is implementing the PHAI on behalf of the Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL), a corporation of the federal crown. The CNL has been licensed to conduct all operations of the waste management facilities found in Porte Hope. It has a waste management facility in Porte hope called the Welcome Waste Management Facility and the Port Granby Waste Management Facility in Clarington. These facilities are being replaced with the new advanced technology facilities that have been developed by PHAI as one of its strategies.
PHAI receives much support from the CNL in its efforts in remediating the low-level radioactive wastes in Port Hope. CNL is currently carrying out operations in the Pine Street Extension Temporary Storage Site. This is a low-level radioactive waste management that has been licensed to receive the historic radioactive wastes from all the construction sites that are found within the municipality. These wastes that have been deposited here will then be transferred to the long-term waste management plant that is being constructed FOR Port Hope waste management project once the construction is complete.
The cleanup will involve moving all the low-level radioactive wastes from Port Hope to the Welcome Waste Management Facility located south of 401 and between Brand and Baulch Road. The whole of Canada, Port Hope accounts for 96% of all the low-level radioactive wastes. A combination of radioactive wastes found in Port Hope and Port Granby brings a total volume of 1.7million cubic meters of wastes that need to be transported to the new site.
Photo showing the water treatment facility with the long-term storage site in the background.
The community has raised various concerns about the much-hyped project of the town cleanup that is projected to take a long time besides costing a huge monetary budget. Some of the issues raised by the community include the following:
The air quality during the transportation exercise. There are fears that the freshly-unearthed radioactive wastes may contaminate the air during the process of excavation and transportation to the waste management plants. The contaminated air when inhaled may cause health effects to people, for example, respiratory infections among other health defects related to contamination with radioactive substances.
The community has also raised concern regarding all the list of contaminated sites. The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission has however clarified that it will go on an exercise of testing 5000 more properties further for any possibilities of potential contamination. Currently, CNL has completed half of its testing for the scheduled total number of properties to be tested for contamination and about 800 have been found to have some contaminants and will require cleanup.
The community needs accountability in all the budgets meant for the project. There is a need that the estimated cost of the project will cater for everything that pertains environmental conservation and the restoration of the safe environment for the people of Port Hope at the end of the project without misappropriation of funds.
Once the process of cleanup is complete, CNL will conduct maintenance and monitoring and this will continue for several years to ensure it doesn’t recur. The impact assessment of the process will be done to ensure its effectiveness in the environmental restoration efforts.
The cleanup exercise of the low level radioactive wastes has kicked off and wastes are being transported to the long-term waste management facility. Photo credits: Canadian Nuclear Laboratories.
Recommendations for the low-level radioactive wastes and the cleanup exercise in general
Various studies have been conducted in the Port Hope which has the highest percentage of low-level radioactive wastes in Canada on the impacts of the radioactive wastes on the health of the population and most of them shows that the level of contamination of the environment is at a negligible level that poses no health risk to human. However, this may not be the case to absolute all tests as other diseases may be slowly developing in the body as a result of the exposure to radioactive substance but have not reached the level that can be detected even after conducting the tests. For this reason, diseases may slowly but gradually develop in the body that is difficult to treat, therefore, a strategy needs to be developed as soon as possible that will eliminate these wastes from the environment as soon as possible.
The cleanup process should be modified so that it takes little time to complete so that the wastes are eliminated from Porte Hope which is occupied by people who may be at risk. This should take the course even if it calls for seeking support from foreign countries only to ensure that the projects reach its completion as soon as possible. Similarly, many funds should be devoted towards this project that will ensure it runs as fast as possible. Organizations and institutions privy to health should partner to ensure that they assist PHAI in implementing this noble project.
On the same note, residents of the areas that may be affected by pollution during the process of moving these wastes should find a way of relocating to other areas to pave way for this exercise so as to be on a safer side from pollution due to freshly-unearthed radioactive wastes. This should be done majorly ensuring that safety is achieved while restoring the environment of Port Hope and the surroundings.
Conclusion
The long history of this small town that seems to suffer environmental degradation due to deposition of the low-level radioactive wastes is epic. It is evident from the past before it was polluted, that the area had rich land that favored the growth of crops and fruits, in addition, it was surrounded with forested land teemed with birds and small game. The water in Lake Ontario also had trout and Salmon. This shows how this was a very important town in defining the economic path of Canada. The absurd pollution of the area with radioactive wastes not only degraded but also scare away investors that may be interested in exploring the rich natural resources of the land. The cleanup project of the town will be a big boost to the economy of Porte Hope and to a larger extent, Canada since everyone will be working and living in this region without any fear of obstruction of any nature caused by environmental factors.
Esri Story Map
Map showing Port Hope, Ganaraska River, and the surrounding streets. Porte Hope lies in the banks of creeks that empty in the river. Ganaraska is the place where the Iroquois established their settlements during their reign.
Lake Ontario and the surrounding regions. The lake was a rich inhabitant of the trout and salmon fish types that the Iroquois fished.
The map shows Port Granby and the welcome waste management facility that the waste management plants were located during the onset of cleanup of the Port Hope and the surrounding areas contaminated with the low-level radioactive wastes.
Annotated bibliography
LaDuke, Winona. “INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVES A NORTH AMERICAN PRIMER.” Native American Voices (2016): 370.
In this book, INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVES A NORTH AMERICAN PRIMER, the author explains how the uranium mills deposited the solid wastes of low-level radioactivity during the processing stages.
Miller, William M., et al. Natural analogue studies in the geological disposal of radioactive wastes. Vol. 57. Elsevier, 2011.
The author explains the effects of the radioactive wastes on the environment and the nature of the exposure to the radio substances on the environment.
Veen, Walter van, and Dave Lawrence. “From Pushing Paper to Pushing Dirt-Canada’s Largest LLRW Cleanup Gets Underway-13111.” WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9-332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States), 2013.
In this article, the authors explain the progress that has ensued in as far as waste management and the town cleanup has taken shape. It explains the activities that are being done in preparation for the transportation of bulk wastes of radioactive substances.
Jovanovic, Slobodan V., Pujing Pan, and Larry Wong. “Bioaccessibility of uranium in soil samples from Port Hope, Ontario, Canada.” Environmental science & technology 46.16 (2012): 9012-9018.
In this book, the authors show the amount of uranium in the soil samples that have been tested in areas with radioactive waste deposits and in comparison with other areas of Canada.
Abu-Khader, Mazen M. “Recent advances in nuclear power: A review.” Progress in Nuclear Energy 51.2 (2009): 225-235
In this book, the author reviews the recent advances in the nuclear power. This shows how the nuclear wastes are regulated so as to ensure that it doesn’t go into the environment, posing health risks to the people.
Reinhardt, Peter A. Infectious and Medical Waste Management: 0. CRC Press, 2018.
This book addresses the way medical wastes are managed since the hospital wastes also have low-level radioactive substances. The wastes are usually temporarily held at the point of generation from where they are accumulated and then transported to a site where they are destroyed mostly through incineration. This method is employed in the waste management of radioactive wastes from the mines.
Hocke, Peter, and Ortwin Renn. “Concerned public and the paralysis of decision‐making: nuclear waste management policy in Germany.” Journal of Risk Research 12.7-8 (2009): 921-940.
In this journal, the author’s looks into the risks associated with the low-level radioactive waves from the mines. It also shows the waste management processes that were used in this operation.
Krauskopf, Konrad. Radioactive waste disposal and geology. Vol. 1. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013.
The book addresses the effects of radioactive wastes on the environment. Much emphasis have been given on geological aspects which includes living organisms.
Case, G., and M. Kolberg. “Dredging up the past–removal of historic low-level radioactive sediment from the Port Hope harbor.” (2011).
The authors reports on the historical event that occurred in port hope in the early 1819. In addition, the decline in the operation of the port due to the devastating event have been highlighted.
Fahey, C. A., and G. G. Case. “Making strides on the Port Hope Area Initiative: Canada’s largest low-level radioactive waste clean-up project.” (2010).
The book explains the largest low level radioactive waste that occurred in canadian history. It also explains some of the clean-up projects that have been achieved so far to make the region safer.
Work cited
Abu-Khader, Mazen M. “Recent advances in nuclear power: A review.” Progress in Nuclear Energy 51.2 (2009): 225-235.
Case, G., and M. Kolberg. “Dredging up the past–removal of historic low-level radioactive sediment from the Port Hope harbor.” (2011).
Fahey, C. A., and G. G. Case. “Making strides on the Port Hope Area Initiative: Canada’s largest low-level radioactive waste clean-up project.” (2010).
Hocke, Peter, and Ortwin Renn. “Concerned public and the paralysis of decision‐making: nuclear waste management policy in Germany.” Journal of Risk Research 12.7-8 (2009): 921-940.
Jovanovic, Slobodan V., Pujing Pan, and Larry Wong. “Bioaccessibility of uranium in soil samples from Port Hope, Ontario, Canada.” Environmental science & technology 46.16 (2012): 9012-9018.
Krauskopf, Konrad. Radioactive waste disposal and geology. Vol. 1. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013.
LaDuke, Winona. “INDIGENOUS ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVES A NORTH AMERICAN PRIMER.” Native American Voices (2016): 370.
Miller, William M., et al. Natural analogue studies in the geological disposal of radioactive wastes. Vol. 57. Elsevier, 2011.
Reinhardt, Peter A. Infectious and Medical Waste Management: 0. CRC Press, 2018.
Veen, Walter van, and Dave Lawrence. “From Pushing Paper to Pushing Dirt-Canada’s Largest LLRW Cleanup Gets Underway-13111.” WM Symposia, 1628 E. Southern Avenue, Suite 9-332, Tempe, AZ 85282 (United States), 2013.
