Corner Brook Pulp and Paper says it will publicly release the results of analysis of 55 barrels being removed from Deer Lake Canal.
The barrels, believed to have been deposited in the canal that feeds the paper company’s Deer Lake Power hydroelectricity plant sometime around the 1950s or earlier, are being taken from the water this week.
The work began Monday and is expected to conclude later this week.
The company says it does not know for certain how the barrels got there or what they would have been used for before they were submerged.
The canal also serves as the municipal drinking water supply for the Town of Deer Lake. Testing of the water, which will continue during and after the cleanup, has not determined any cause for concern.
“The important thing is we are taking the necessary steps to make sure it is cleaned up and the water supply is protected,” said Darren Pelley, Corner Brook Pulp and paper’s general manager.
Stantec, the environmental company in charge of the project, has placed containment booms around the area where the barrels are located, which is in the forebay near the intake for the power station.
The town has temporarily moved its intake farther up the canal from where the work is occurring and has issued a precautionary boil advisory.
Stantec has indicated the barrels found in the canal are in a deteriorated state and empty, though if they ever did contain anything remains a mystery. Each barrel is being placed in a protective container, hoisted to the surface and loaded into a dumpster.
Before they are properly disposed of, the barrels will be tested to see if their former use can be determined.
Pelley said the report on the testing of the barrels will be made public when it is completed.
Deer Lake Mayor Dean Ball, whose town has been involved in the discussions held in the last two years that led to the action being taken this week, urged his residents to be patient and remain confident in their drinking water.
“We have a lot of interest in this too and we will be following this through,” said the mayor.
The paper company said it has done a full assessment of the entire canal and the small area where the barrels are located is the only area of concern.
He confirmed there are barges also submerged in the canal, but they consist of steel and untreated wood and moving them would cause unnecessary disturbance of the sediment on the canal bed.