The historic low-level radioactive waste and contaminated soil, located at various sites in the Municipality of Port Hope, are a consequence of past practices involving the refining of radium and uranium by a former federal Crown Corporation, Eldorado Nuclear Limited, and its private-sector predecessors. These waste materials contain radium-226, uranium, arsenic and other contaminants resulting from the refining process. The original Eldorado refining operation and plant were established in the 1930s without consultation with Indigenous peoples of the area.
In the Port Hope, the waste was placed at the Welcome Waste Management Facility, which was closed in 1955 and at various locations throughout the urban area. In the mid-1950s waste management operations moved approximately 13 km west to Port Granby Residue Area in Clarke Township, now Municipality of Clarington.
As part of the Port Hope Project the historic waste was removed from the Welcome facility and relocated to the newly built Port Hope Long-Term Waste Management Facility. Waste placed at the former Port Granby site has been relocated and safely stored through the Port Granby Project.
1932 – Eldorado Gold Mine Ltd. opens
1933-1939 – Processing residues retained on plant site
1934-1944 – Processing residues stored
1930s-1970s – Properties and sites in Town of Port Hope become contaminated
1942-1954 – Production shift
1944 – Government of Canada takes over Eldorado
1945-1948 – Monkey Mountain
1948-1954 – Welcome Disposal Area
1948-1974 – Storage at Pidgeon Hill
1953-1954 – Radium refining stops
1955-1988 – Waste management operations moved
1962 – Company becomes Eldorado Nuclear Ltd
1976-1981 – Radiation reduction program
1982 – Low-Level Radioactive Waste Management Office
1982 – present
1988 – Eldorado Resources Ltd. sold to privately owned Cameco Corp.
1988-1996 – Siting Task Force
1997 – Hope Township initiates community proposal
1998 – Port Hope and Clarington also develop proposals
2000 – Principles of Understanding
2001 – PHAI begins
2002-2009 – Environmental Assessments
2009 – PHAI Management Office formed
2010 – PHAI project updates
2011 – PHAI project updates
2012-2013 – Phase 2 begins
2014 – AECL launches Canadian Nuclear Laboratories
2015 – Construction of engineered mounds
2016 – Historic Waste Program Management Office formed
2017 – First load of on-site waste is placed at the Port Hope Project
2018 – First movement of waste in Port Hope community
2019 – Work progresses
2020 progress
2021 – progress
2022 – progress