Tervita Corporation to clean up creek at Victoria airport

SIDNEY, BC – The Government of Canada has awarded a contract to Tervita Corporation to restore the environmental health of Reay Creek’s bed by removing elevated concentrations of metals in sediments found in Transport Canada-owned Victoria Airport lands.

The creek cleanup work will begin this month and is expected to be complete by October. This involves diverting the creek, excavating approximately 900 tonnes of contaminated sediment, and transporting the sediment to an approved facility for treatment/disposal.

The creek bed on airport lands will be backfilled with clean material.

The contract, worth more than $504,000, will be closely monitored by Transport Canada to ensure the safety of workers and the community. Environmental monitoring will be conducted throughout the project to ensure that cleanup objectives are met and that the excavation activities do not have a negative impact on the surrounding environment.

The Reay Creek Remediation Project is funded through Canada’s Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan (FCSAP). FCSAP provides funding to assess and remediate federal contaminated sites and is coordinated by Environment and Climate Change Canada and the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat.

Reay Creek is home to cutthroat trout and salmon. Transport Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada are working to ensure remediation work happens as quickly, efficiently, and sustainably as is possible.