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featuRe stORy KEvIn MACDOnALD’75 Cleaning up the Sydney Tar Ponds 00 / Summer 2011 / RECORD
an important community project and one of the most challenging — and ‘‘It’s rewarding — I’ve ’’ ever worked on by Laura Dillman Ripley Kevin MacDonald is a Cape Bretoner through and through. Born and raised in new Waterford, he returned to the Island following his university studies to enjoy a successful career as an engineer. Three years ago he was offered the chance to lead one of the most prominent remediation and environmental clean up projects in Canada in his own backyard, and he jumped at the chance. MacDonald is now CEO of the Sydney Tar Ponds Agency (STPA), charged with cleaning up the Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens sites. Situated in the heart of Sydney, nS, the sites contain one million tonnes of contaminated soil and sediment from nearly 100 years of steel and coke production. “It’s an important community project and one of the most challenging — and rewarding — I’ve ever worked on,” says MacDonald. “In 2008 I was working for the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) as the director of engineering and public works. The STPA had already been established for a number of years at this time, working on the consulting, design, and technology phases of this huge project. When I heard they were looking for someone to help lead the construction phase of the site, I thought it would be a great opportunity.” And this great opportunity rang true. The construction and final stage of the Sydney Tar Ponds project is now more than halfway complete with a scheduled finish date of March 2014, a deadline MacDonald is confident his team will meet. 00 / Summer 2011 / RECORD “I work with a wonderful team. There are about 30 people at the Agency and their dedication to this project is phenomenal. We also work with various levels of government and consultants, contractors, and construction firms. The Tar Ponds clean up has been a real community effort with local firms, including a high level of Aboriginal participation, working on the project in various capacities.” The South Pond, which accounts for 50 per cent of the Tar Ponds site, is now complete and will soon have public access. Using a technology proven in other parts of the world, but never used in Canada, a pumping station was built on site and dewatered the tar pond sludge. The sludge was then mixed with cement in the South Pond. The mixture is covered with clay and other materials, which seal the cement mixture. Because of this process the once toxic sludge is now safely entombed, where ground water and rainfall can’t reach it or become contaminated. The South Pond site will become a green community space for all residents of the CBRM. “It’s amazing to see this kind of technology used right in my home province. This technology came to Cape Breton when a local firm was able to partner with a company in the US who were experts in this solidification/stabilization process. As a result, we now have our own experts in this process, the only ones in Canada.” Outside the STPA MacDonald keeps busy, with his heart always in Cape Breton. His family is still based in new Waterford and he enjoys summers at his cottage on the Mira River.
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Page 9 and 10: Year of science and discovery kicks
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