Public Comment Period on Intent to Make a Determination
Decommission Oily Waste Water Lines- Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Halifax

March 31, 2023 — The Department of National Defence must decide whether the proposed project is likely to cause significant adverse environmental effects.

To help inform this decision, the Department of National Defence is inviting comments from the public on the project and its potential effects on the environment. All comments received will be considered public. For more information, individuals should consult the Privacy Notice on the Registry website.

Written comments must be submitted by April 19, 2023 to:
Ryanne Hamblin, Project Manager
Mailing Address:  PO Box 99000 Stn Forces
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, B3K 5X5
E-mail: ryanne.hamblin@forces.gc.ca

The Proposed Project

The Department of National Defence (DND) has proposed a project which involves the decommissioning of the oily waste water pipe (OWWP) system located within tunnels and at various mechanical jetty mounts throughout the Halifax Dockyard. The system historically pumped compensating water from ships and submarines for treatment at the Oily Waste Water Treatment Plant, which was taken out of service in 2016 and has been deconstructed under the Cogswell District Redevelopment Project. The project will also involve removing associated infrastructure including holding tanks, recirculating pumps, any associated heat tracing, electrical connections/ conduit, and mechanical components unique to the system. Due to the complex arrangement of the pipe network through the tunnels, it is unlikely that the entire OWWP system can be accessed for removal without extensive excavation or reconfiguring of other tunnel services, therefore, focus will be on removing accessible portions of the OWWP beginning at the hook up point at each mechanical jetty mount. This will involve removing the pipe connection, sealing the hole in the jetty mount to prevent potential hook ups and environmental releases from a nonfunctioning system and removing accessible OWWP lines within the steam tunnels and dug trenches. OWWP that must remain because of inaccessibility will be capped and abandoned in place underground with a capping point accessible from the tunnels. This project will not involve any excavation or destruction of existing infrastructure in order to remove OWWP. OWWP abandoned in place will be recorded and addressed during future projects that will unearth this piping in the future as they occur. The proposed decommissioning project is scheduled to begin in Fiscal Year 2023-2024.