A mostly forgotten landfill site on the northeast edge of Ottawa will get more of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s attention soon. The agency says it has $1 billion from the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act for taking care of 22 contaminated sites across the U.S. That includes the remaining radioactive site in Ottawa. It will get $90 million.
The old dump got debris from the Radium Dial and Luminous Processes glow-in-the-dark painting operations. An E.P.A. spokesperson says it will remove contaminated soil on the 17-acre site. Then the land will be backfilled and regraded. The work is expected to start in 2024. The soil with radium-226 will be taken to a disposal facility licensed for handling radioactive contamination.
Since the 1980’s, the E.P.A. has cleaned up, capped, or restricted 15 of the 16 places that got radioactive debris or soil fill.
This story was updated from an earlier version.