WESTLOCK – The massive $7.3 million 108th Street reconstruction project ($6.3M in 2021 and $1M in 2022), which has been plagued by setbacks due to the discovery of soil contaminated with “heavy concentrations of hydrocarbons” from a decommissioned bulk fuel station, now appears to be back on track for a possible 2021 completion date.
Town of Westlock CAO Simone Wiley said July 13 that following a meeting with the town’s contractor she was told that due to the early April 6 start on the project, and how they were able to move on from the site of the hydrocarbon contamination, they’re now only tracking about two weeks behind schedule, not two months as she previously estimated.
“They are moving right along. You’re going to see some asphalt going down as early as later this week on the west section and then once they hit their kind of break point there, they’ll move to the east end and then they start the underground work there and start working back towards the Terminals,” said Wiley.
The road is getting a fresh asphalt overlay, new curbs, gutters and sidewalks, as well as a new storm sewer line, sanitary sewer line and sanitary water line. In the spring Knelsen Sand & Gravel senior construction manager Darrell Quist said that weather would determine if it could be finished this year as they had allocated their season to it and are on site six days a week.
Contamination slows the job
At the June 28 Town of Westlock council meeting, councillors voted 7-0 to amend the 2021 capital budget, adding $1.6 million for remediation costs on 108th Street.
Imperial Oil, the owners of the 300-by-94-foot lot on the southern side of 108th Street in Whissellville from where the contamination emanated, are being billed for the clean-up and have been invoiced $782,498.31 so far. The site, which is located about two lots west of where 98th Avenue begins, was decommissioned in 1987 and previously housed an Imperial Oil office, tanks and a warehouse.
Wiley told council June 28 that during construction on the stretch the underground contractor doing the water and sewer work came up to the property and encountered “heavy concentrations of hydrocarbons.”
The clean-up, which was done by Knelsen, included the removal of the contaminated materials to the Roseridge Waste Management in Morinville and the installation of a plastic underground liner to contain further seepage from the site. Remediation started at the end of May and wrapped before July 1.
No risk to the public, says AEP and Imperial
Imperial public and government affairs manager Keri Scobie said via e-mail July 7 that their environmental consultants have conducted site assessments over the years and the data collected to date “does not indicate a risk to public health and safety, or the environment associated with Imperial’s past operations.”
The north side of 108th Street, heading east from 97th Avenue to 98th Avenue, includes an apartment building, plus the backyards of homes, while the CN Rail line runs parallel to the entire length of 108th Street.
Alberta Environment and Parks confirmed a similar assessment regarding risk to residences in the Whissellville area, stating in a July 5 e-mail that contamination limits have been defined on the north side of the roadway and “are not expected to cause concern or issue to nearby residential properties” and that they’ll “work with Imperial Oil to ensure the contamination is appropriately managed until remediated.”
Imperial doesn’t have a timetable for reclaiming the site, with Scobie saying their consultants sampled the ground within the utility corridor in proximity to their property and “any soil that did not meet Alberta’s standard was disposed of at an approved disposal facility at Imperial’s cost.” Neither AEP nor Imperial has stated what was found in the soil.
“We will continue to appropriately manage and monitor the site until we remediate. The remediation timelines are still to be determined,” said Scobie in the same e-mail.
