After two extensions, the public comment period on a pilot project to reduce PFAS contamination leaving Department of National Defence property in Hornell Heights closes Friday.<\/p>\n
Quietly posted on an obscure public registry on April 28th<\/sup>, a notice from the Department of National Defence Directorate of Contaminated Sites invites the public to comment on a proposal to install a 250 metres long in-ground permeable adsorptive barrier (PAB) to remediate groundwater impacted by per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) migrating from an area contaminated during fire-fighting training exercises decades ago.<\/p>\n PFAS are a group of several thousand synthetic chemicals used since the 1950s to make products resistant to water, grease, and stains. Known as “forever chemicals,” they are practically indestructible, accumulating in the environment and the human body over time. In North Bay, historic firefighting training activities conducted from the early 1970s to the mid-1990s at Jack Garland Airport and 22 Wing\/CFB North Bay have been identified as the primary source of PFAS impacts on airport lands and surrounding areas, including in private wells, Lee\u2019s Creek, Trout Lake, and the City of North Bay\u2019s drinking water.<\/p>\n \u201cThe project is a step in the right direction, and we are happy to know progress is being made, commented Carol Hansman, a spokesperson for the Trout Lake Conservation Association.<\/p>\n \u201cRemediating the PFAS contamination is a massive challenge, and we appreciate that the Department of National Defence is balancing the urgent need for action with the need to be diligent in its assessment of treatment options.\u201d<\/p>\n The project will begin with pilot-scale testing to evaluate the performance of carbon filters injected into the ground, followed by full-scale implementation in 2027 or 2028 and long-term monitoring.<\/p>\n Several local organizations are working with the Canadian Environmental Law Association to prepare a detailed submission, while many of their members are also submitting individual comments as concerned residents.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important that DND hear from the residents of North Bay\u201d, commented Brennain Lloyd, project coordinator with Northwatch.<\/p>\n \u201cPFAS contamination \u2013 including of our drinking water \u2013 affects us all, and this is a time to let the responsible agencies know that the public is concerned, that we want action to be taken, and that we are paying attention.\u201d<\/p>\n More information is available at www.northwatch.org\/toxics including details on how to submit comments.<\/p>\n Comments can be emailed to\u00a0NorthBayPFAS-NorthBayPFAS@forces.gc.ca.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After two extensions, the public comment period on a pilot project to reduce PFAS contamination leaving Department of National Defence property in Hornell Heights closes Friday. Quietly posted on an obscure public registry on April 28th, a notice from the Department of National Defence Directorate of Contaminated Sites invites the public to comment on a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-northern-ontario"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-12 09:05:58","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83716"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83716\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83717,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83716\/revisions\/83717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wawa-news.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}