The latest update on the well testing results of the groundwater at the former Millbrook Correctional Facility were presented at the last Council meetings.
These results are carefully watched because the site is so close to the municipal wells. The wells at this site have been monitored since an investigation prompted by the demolition of buildings at this location identified some contamination.
The property is owned and managed by Infrastructure Ontario (IO), a government corporation that reports to Ontario’s Minister of Infrastructure. The organization intends to sell the site as a surplus property, and are working to reduce their liability. No timeline has been set on the disposition, which will be affected by the results of this monitoring, but details about the property have already been circulated to other ministries. In the next stage, it will be offered for sale at fair value to other levels of government (including the local municipality), not for profit organizations, eligible indigenous groups and other entities in the broader public sector.
As a precaution to protect the safety of the municipal water supply, the township has engaged Cambium to perform a peer review of the most recent annual monitoring report and provide comments. It identified some issues requiring further examination.
Cambium generally agreed with the provincial consultant’s conclusion that conditions at the site are stable and steadily improving, but disagreed with the recommendation to reduce the frequency of the monitoring. Some of the recent tests have detected the presence of chloroform and Trichloroethene (TCE), which had not been observed in previous investigations, as well as an increase in the turbidity in the water, which can affect water treatment processes. Cambium recommended that the monitoring program continue as usual until there is clarity about these issues. The most recent test of the Millbrook Municipal Supply Wells took place in August 2023 continues to show no contamination at these locations. KG
