Massive DEW line cleanup in Arctic to finish this summer

Work will soon resume on cleaning up old buildings and radar equipment at the old Distant Early Warning sites across the Canadian Arctic.

The DEW line sites cleanup is the biggest environmental project ever undertaken by the Government of Canada. Its also the largest remediation project in size and cost for the Department of National Defence.

The DEW line sites were built in the 1950s across the Canadian Arctic. The Department of National Defence has been working to clean up 21 of the largest sites. 20 are now done. Work will resume in June at Cape Dyer, and is expected to finish this fall.

Buildings must be demolished, debris has to be removed, contaminants cleaned up and landfills have to be closed.

In 2012, Qikiqtaaluk Logistics was awarded the $15 million contract for that project. Staff are now at the site setting up camp.

The Fox-4 siteis atCape Hooper, on the coast between Qikiqtarjuaq and Clyde River, Nunavut. While it was the first site to be remediated, it needs more maintenance work.

The government says it will monitor the DEW line sites for the next 25 years.

The overall budget for the Department of National Defence's DEW line site cleanup project is now estimated at $575 million.