Clean-up of the Tracadie military training area in New Brunswick

Petition

[OAG Translation]

May 22, 2003

Johanne Gélinas
Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development
240 Sparks Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0G6

Dear Ms. Gélinas:

I hereby submit a petition requesting that your organization conduct an investigation into the contamination of the firing range in the Tracadie-Sheila area of my riding.

The following is a brief history of the former military base at Tracadie to help you fully understand the current situation. In 1940, the federal government expropriated land from 300 families to establish a National Defence training camp. The land, which covers one-third of the Acadian Peninsula, was used as a firing range from 1942 to 1994.

In 1994, National Defence declared the firing range surplus. In 1997, an agreement was reached to transfer the land to the Province of New Brunswick. The federal government was to completely decontaminate the land before transferring it to the Province. Under the agreement, the work was to be done between 1997 and 2000.

The Province of New Brunswick has always refused to assume ownership of the land because it believes the decontamination is not complete. The Province bases its decision on a report by the firm OCEAN, a copy of which I sent to you on July 24, 2002. It clearly indicates that the land is still contaminated.

Needless to say, the decontamination has been controversial from the start. It has been the subject of extensive media coverage and municipal and provincial governments and the public have serious doubts that the land is completely decontaminated.

As I indicated to you in my letter of July 24, this situation is unacceptable to the surrounding communities. For that reason, I am requesting that National Defence carry out a complete decontamination of the entire property.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Yours sincerely,

[Original signed by Yvon Godin]

Yvon Godin, M.P. Acadie-Bathurst 706 Justice Building House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6 Tel.: (613) 992-2165 Fax: (613) 992-4558 godiny@parl.gc.ca

311 - 216 Main Street Bathurst, NB E2A 1A8 Tel.: (506) 548-7511 Fax: (506) 548-7418 1 (800) 992-5699

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Minister's Response: National Defence

August 8, 2003

Mr. Yvon Godin, M.P.
311-216 Main Street
Bathurst, New Brunswick
E2A 1A8

Dear Mr. Godin:

This letter is in response to your petition, received by the Department of National Defence (DND) on June 9, 2003, concerning Environmental Substance Petition No. 78. I apologize for the delay in replying.

The clean-up of the unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination sites at the Tracadie Military Range was carried out in the specified time stipulated in the federal-provincial agreement signed on March 10, 1997, by DND and the New Brunswick Department of Natural Resources and Energy. You have been provided with a copy of this agreement. I have been informed that besides the decontamination duties carried out in the specified areas, the branch also benefited from quality assurance work done on behalf of the supervision company to ensure proper fulfilment of these specific duties.

The report by Le Groupe Océan inc., published on July 5, 2001, and enclosed with your letter of May 22, 2003, dealt with correspondence between DND and the former New Brunswick Minister of Natural Resources and Energy, the Honourable Jeannot Volpé. The environmental obligations stipulated under section 8 of the report were honoured. However, it is critical that the environmental contamination mentioned in section 8 of the agreement not be confused with the UXO contamination issues identified in sections 6 and 7.

DND cannot accept the Environmental Substance Petition No. 78 request for complete cleanup of the UXO contamination from the entire firing range, as such a cleanup exceeds the provisions of the federal-provincial agreement on the clearance of UXO contamination sites. As stipulated in section 12 of the report, any further cleanup falls under the jurisdiction of the provincial government.

In conclusion, DND has met its obligations with respect to the UXO contamination cleanup for the Tracadie Military Range.

I appreciate being made aware of your concerns on these issues and I trust this information is of assistance.

Yours sincerely,

[Original signed by John McCallum, Minister of National Defence]

The Honourable John McCallum, P.C., MP