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Overview of the Pottersburg PCB Storage Site

The safe cleanup of what was once the largest PCB waste storage site in Canada is now complete.

The facility was initially created by Westinghouse Canada in 1984 by order of the Ministry of the Environment to contain PCB-contaminated material cleaned up from Westinghouse.  The containment site was acquired by the ministry in 1985 to store PCB contaminated soil originating from a number of other industrial properties, as well as soils and sediments cleaned up from Pottersburg Creek and Walker Drain in London.

The PCB wastes were securely stored and the site maintained and monitored because no practical technology for the destruction of PCBs was available at the time.  In March 2008, the Ontario government committed to use current technologies to remove and destroy the PCB-contaminated soils that were stored at the site.

In addition, in September of 2008, the federal government passed a regulation that required the removal of in-storage PCB waste to an approved PCB destruction facility by December 31, 2009.

At project completion, a total of 103,939 tonnes of stored PCB waste was removed. An additional 8,956 tonnes of PCB contaminated soil was removed from the walls and floors of the vaults, and from other areas of the site. Almost 3,100 truckloads of PCB contaminated soil were safely removed and destroyed at a certified facility in Quebec.

A comprehensive environmental site assessment was also completed in late 2010 to confirm the environmental security of the property.

Protection

The protection of public health and the environment was the top priority during the removal of the PCBs from the storage site.  To ensure that this priority was maintained throughout the project, the ministry partnered with the City of London and the Middlesex-London Health Unit.

The government committed to ensuring the community was fully protected and engaged throughout the decommissioning project. As part of this commitment, the ministry formed a Community Liaison Group that participated in the development of the decommissioning plan and ensured that community interests were represented.

Transparency is Key

Through this website, the ministry provided regular updated information on the project – opportunities for you to participate and a venue for response to questions. 

The Community Liaison Group held 16 meetings that were open to the public.  There were also 8 public information sessions that communicated results of environmental monitoring and project updates throughout the decommissioning project.

We had more than 10,000 visits to this website during the decommissioning project and appreciate this high level of community interest and participation.

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