Not enough consultation on cleanup of former U.S. military sites in Labrador, says NunatuKavut

The NunatuKavutcommunity counciland a local resident are concerned about the consultation and time frame of the cleanup of contaminated land from former American military sites on islands along the coast.

The United States established military bases in Newfoundland and Labradorstarting in 1941 as part of a campaign to prepare to defend the Western Hemisphere during the Second World War. Along Labrador's coast, there were a number of satellite sites created that housed U.S. soldiers.

After the military closed the sites, contaminants were left behind, including asbestos, petroleum hydrocarbons fossil fuels such as bitumen, crude oil and coal and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: chemicals from burning coal, oil, gas, garbage and tobacco.

Documents obtained by the CBC through access-to-information requests show three satellite sites Spotted Island, Cut Throat Island and Cartwright need cleanup to meetenvironmental standards. The documents detail how much soil needs to be remediated and how much it will cost.

Clarence Webber lived on Spotted Island, about 300 kilometres east of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, with a U.S.base near his community, until he was 10. After the base closed in 1961, his family was resettled to Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Webber continued to return each year until health problems made the trip too difficult. Now his children and grandchildren make the trip every summer.

"It's beautiful," Webber said."I go home in the middle of August till probably the middle of September, and mostly to pick bakeapples."

Webber's wife, Loretta, said the summer community can grow to more than 100 people at one time. She said the land needs to be cleaned up because the community drinks from the freshwater brook on the island, and she's concerned contamination from the site will end up in the water.

"It's very important that they go back and clean up whatever is contaminated because there's still a lot of people that go back. There's a lot of homes there and still more new ones being put up," Loretta said. "Clean it up so that people can feel safe there."

The report shows that in 2019, engineering firm Englobe created the cleanup strategy for the Cartwright site, while Gemtech Consulting Engineers and Geoscientists created remediating strategies for the Cut Throat Island and Spotted Island sites.

In July 2020, the provincial Department of Environment, Climate Change and Municipalities brought on Strum Consulting to review the three sites' strategies and provide recommendations.

Strum's report says about 54 tonnes of soil needs to be removed in Cartwright, costing around $91,000. On Cut Throat Island, about 2,295 tonnes needs to be removed with an estimated cost of $2.7 million.

When it comes to Spotted Island, the report notes about 340 tonnes of soil needs to be removed. But complicating matters, says the report, is that people in the nearby summer community regularly access the site.

Our people in thatarea depend a lot on the water and the land around that area.- George Russell Jr.

The report says the Spotted Island site cleanup could cost $1.9 million, but notes thatmay be an underestimateas the strategy doesn't include a human health and ecological risk assessment, which would outline the risks to people and the environment from exposure to the contaminants.

After reviewing the military cleanup report, the NunatuKavutcommunity council outlined its concerns in a letter to the provincial government. The council says more information is needed on how the province will protect human health, community well-being, and flora and fauna in the area during and after remediation.

George Russell Jr., the NCC's director of environment and natural resources, said the council is keen on making sure the process is handled in a way that respects environmental integrity.

"We want to make sure that the process is acceptable for our communities and for the folks in that area," he said."Our people in thatarea depend a lot on the water and the land around that area. Fishing, hunting, berrypicking, a variety of cultural activities."

Russell said in recent weeks the province and federal government have been working with NCC to set up a working group to guide the process, with the initial meeting of the working group anticipated to happen this week.

Russell said a human health and ecological risk assessment study should also be done on the site to understand the impact on human health.

CBC requested an interview with the provincial minister of environment and climate change, as the province owns the sites. The department refused an interview and sent a two-paragraph statement instead.

The statement says the provincial government has made a long-term commitment to the remediation of the former sites and work continues toward ensuring they meet environmental standards. The statement says the government is consulting Indigenous governments and organizations to draft remediation plans, then will continue negotiations with the federal government.

It's just a place that, you know, just means everything.- Shawn Holwell

While meetings are now happening, Shawn Holwell one of the last people who was born on Spotted Island said he's disappointed by the sheer length of time it has taken to get the cleanup moving.

"It's my home," said Holwell, who lives up the coast in Cartwright. "When I say I'm going home, that means I'm going up to Spotted. It's just a place that, you know, just means everything."

Through spending his summers there and speaking with others on the island, Holwell said he thinks the report underestimates the amount of soil that needs to be remediated.

Russell and the NCC want long-term monitoring put in place after the cleanup for assurance that there won't be long-term impacts for people who visit the area.

"We're looking at something maybe like monitoring wells or just sort of [testing]the groundwater or surface water, ensuring that once remediation has taken place, that there's no residual contaminants left around in the area," he said.

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