THUNDER BAY -- The coordinator of the Thunder Bay and area Remedial Action Plan is welcoming the news that Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Patti Hajdu will raise the issue of mercury contamination in the north harbour with two fellow cabinet ministers
Hajdu, the federal Minister of Employment, has promised to look into the status of the project with the ministers of Transport and the Environment, and to "look for solutions."
She made the commitment after meeting last week with local stakeholders about the nearly-400,000 cubic metres of pulpy, mercury-contaminated sediment on the harbour bottom.
RAP spokesperson Jim Bailey says Hajdu's interest in the issue has already raised its profile. "I can see that almost instantly, in the media, just because of the involvement of a federal minister," Bailey said in an interview Wednesday.
"Everyone wants a clean harbour," he said. "But I think we really need to get down to a determination of jurisdictions and roles with respect to the north harbour."
Bailey said the roles of various government departments and organizations that might be involved in any cleanup project must be firmly clarified in order to move forward.
He added that although a report has already outlined the risks from the mercury, some parties have stated that they would like to see "further clarification of the risk and communication of the risk."
Bailey said it's "not simply a matter of moving the material from its current position to some other location because that's not really cleanup. That needs to be well-understood, the risks well-understood, and hopefully some kind of cooperative effort can be arranged where the various entities can all assist in cleanup."
