The Port of Halifax plans an environmentally friendlier expansion

The Halifax Port Authority (HPA) has announced an expansion project that will reduce local greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

As the city undergoes a construction boom, the HPA has proposed using the pyritic slate generated from downtown building projects that has to be sequestered as infill within the basin between Piers A-1 and B at Ocean Terminals. The location would reduce the number of truckloads that would have to be hauled to a more distant sequestration facility and the related GHG emissions.

Although a naturally occurring substance, pyritic slate yields an acidic runoff that prohibits its disposal without environmental considerations. The new infill site will be closer to downtown Halifax than the existing Fairview Cove sequestration site.

The project is expected to be completed in about three years but will depend on the pace of the local development and associated volume of pyrite slate removal. The current estimation is that 500,000 cubic metres (almost 654,000 cubic yards) of infill will be relocated, along with finishing materials, to create an additional 3.2 hectares (approximately 8 acres) of port space.

Transfers are expected to begin this May.