Archived Content |
As of June 19, 2014, the operation of Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation has been transferred to both the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the Public Works and Government Services Canada. Content on this site has been archived for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. Web pages that are archived on the Internet are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. For more information on archived materials, please visit Library and Archives Canada. Please refer to the appropriate Government of Canada Agency/Department for updated information: |
SCOTCHTOWN (NS) – August 28, 2013 – The Government of Canada’s remediation of Cape Breton’s former industrial sites marked another milestone with the opening of Summit Park in Scotchtown today. The Park, located on a former waste rock disposal site for the area’s coal mines, was officially opened by the Honourable Rob Moore, Minister of State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency).
“Our Government is focused on creating jobs, growth and long-term prosperity for all Canadians,” said Minister Moore. “The remediation of this former industrial site and its development as a community park enhances local infrastructure, improves economic development capacity, promotes active living and creates a permanent legacy to Cape Breton’s rich coal mining heritage.”
Through Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation (ECBC), the Government of Canada has invested over $15 million in this remediation project. Summit Park now provides the local community with a walking trail, skating pond, all-terrain vehicle trails and a parking lot on a large tract of land between Scotchtown and New Waterford Lake.
Between 1911 and 1973, the site was used by the Dominion Coal Company for the disposal of coal waste rock from the nearby Dominion No. 12, No. 16 and No. 18 collieries. The waste rock was reprocessed from 1981 to 1987 to recover residual coal. The process resulted in the expansion of the site footprint.
Remediation work began in 2009 and involved road construction, the consolidation of waste rock material and the installation of a high density polyethylene liner covered by soil and hydro-seed. Soils used in the remediation were generated from a borrow pit created on site that was also remediated at the end of the program. ECBC worked with the New Waterford Fish and Game Association on the development of the park and with the Isle Royale ATV Club to design all-terrain trails.
The Summit Park property is one of 53 coal mining-related sites in the Cape Breton Regional Municipality being remediated by the Government of Canada through ECBC after the closure of the last federally-operated coal mine on the island in 2001. To date, over $190 million has been spent on environmental assessment, demolition, site remediation, site maintenance and mine-water management. In many instances sites have not only been remediated but they have been redeveloped as community parks that pay tribute to Cape Breton’s coal mining history and provide recreational and healthy living opportunities for residents and visitors.
Enterprise Cape Breton Corporation is a federal Crown corporation offering programs in support of commercial development, community development, environmental stewardship and real property development on Cape Breton Island and in the Mulgrave area.
-30-
INFORMATION:
D. A. Landry
ECBC Communications
902 564 3617
|
|
