Hi to everyone,
Somehow, it seems that this is the amount that was paid by the US Governent as a final monetary compensation in 1993 after tjhe closing of a US Air Force base.The 100 million$ paid in 1993 has grown to 300million$ in 2009 but will be spent over a period of ten years! At the time, the cost of remediation had been appraised to 1 billion$.See the article from my archives below; the CBC ran it in 2004 (The red color is from me):
Objet : CBC News - TOXINS FROM GOOSE BAY AIRBASE MAY BE SPREADING, DND
WARNS
The following is a news item posted on CBC NEWS ONLINE
at http://www.cbc.ca/news
____________________________________________________
TOXINS FROM GOOSE BAY AIRBASE MAY BE SPREADING, DND WARNS
WebPosted Mon Aug 30 15:54:58 2004
Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Nfld.---Goose Bay farmers have been warned not to
drink their well water for three years after scientists discovered that
toxins from a former U.S. airbase may be spreading.
Department of National Defence scientists asked farmers this week to use
the town water supply while they monitor the flow of contaminants through
soil and groundwater outside the base.
The province has also frozen new leases for three years to allow time for
the study.
"We need to get a complete understanding of the type and nature and the
extent of the contamination that might exist in that area," Holmer
Berthiaume, the department's director of environmental protection said.
"People don't want to buy produce from an area that may be threatened
with pollution."
The department, which inherited the site after the U.S. air force pulled
out of Labrador in 1991, said the pollution left behind is much greater
than originally expected.
Estimates put the true cost of the cleanup at as much as 10 times the
$100 million that the United States paid Canada in 1993.
Farmers disgusted by toxic mess
Many local farmers are enraged, insisting that the U.S. should have been
forced to clean up before it left.
"That pollution is just a little bit too close for anybody's comfort,"
said Frank Pye, who sank his life savings into his farm but now fears for
its future. $20 million already spent on cleanup
The Americans dumped tens of thousands of drums containing contaminants
such as DDT, jet fuel, diesel, paint solvents and antifreeze.
DND already has more than 3,000 test wells on the base and has spent more
than $20 million cleaning up polluted areas.
The source of the latest contamination is unknown. It may be from a
documented spill by the U.S. air force in 1962, or it may be coming from
a pipeline that runs under part of the municipality and connects two
different tank farms.
Copyright (C) 2004 CBC. All rights reserved.
Charles-A. Veilleux, Esq.
1339, James-LeMoine
Québec, Qc, Canada, G1S-1A5
Tel. res.: 418 682-8162
> Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 14:49:44 -0700
> From: lsiegel@cpeo.org
> To: military@lists.cpeo.org
> Subject: [CPEO-MEF] GLOBAL: Goose Bay, Canada
>
> MacKay announces $300-million plan to clean up Labrador airbase by 2020
>
> By THE CANADIAN PRESS
> July 12, 2009
>
> HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY, N.L. - Defence Minister Peter MacKay has
> announced $300 million in funding as part of an ongoing project to clean
> up contamination at an airbase in Labrador.
>
> The contamination in areas of 5 Wing Goose Bay has been attributed to
> past storage and handling practices of certain materials, including
> heavy metals, PCBs, hydrocarbons and pesticides.
>
> The remediation project, which began a number of years ago, will help
> reduce potential risks associated with the contamination, said MacKay.
>
> ...
>
> For the entire article, see
> http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5gG_K-_jSm8RtvlWsb6UmCU1BUA2w
>
> --
>
>
> Lenny Siegel
> Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
> a project of the Pacific Studies Center
> 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
> Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
> Fax: 650/961-8918
> <lsiegel@cpeo.org>
> http://www.cpeo.org
>
>
>
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