Concrete is loaded into a dump truck at the former Lambton Generating site in St. Clair Township. April, 2021 Photo courtesy of OPG.Concrete is loaded into a dump truck at the former Lambton Generating site in St. Clair Township. April, 2021 Photo courtesy of OPG.
Sarnia

Rail spur reactivated to expedite LGS demolition

The old rail line at Lambton Generating Station near Courtright has been reactivated to get steel off the site faster during demolition.

The station, owned by Ontario Power Generation (OPG), was shut down after 44 years of operation in 2013 when the province decided to phase out coal power generation.

OPG spokesperson Neal Kelly said demolition is well underway again with a new contractor in place.

"Delsan-Aim, they're a Montreal-based company, they're a well established demolition company that successfully demolished the Nanticoke Generating Station for us a couple of years ago," said Kelly. "Work has been ramping up again and more material is being moved off the site either by truck, or by rail, and we will get that to a brownfield [site] in the not too distant future."

Kelly said the rail cars are really accelerating the removal of the scrap.

"We're moving a lot of steel and concrete and other parts of the former plant out. That's one of the reasons that we've reactivated the rail spur line. If we can move more by rail, that means less truck traffic on the parkway and on Oil Springs Line. The other thing about having less truck traffic, that means less emissions."

JMX Contracting started demolishing the site in 2018, but the work stopped last year when the company filed for bankruptcy and insolvency protection.

"The site has been partially demolished. We anticipate the power house will be imploded by the end of 2021 and then the stacks are likely to be imploded in late summer 2022."

Kelly hopes demolition will be completed by the end of next year.

"We'll continue to own the site. We will continue to work with leaders in the community to make sure that they understand what we're doing. We'll work with neighbours. At the end of the day we'll return that site to a brownfield condition and we'll see what happens after that, but it will be something that I think the community can be proud of."

Lambton Generating Station in St. Clair Township. April, 2021 Photo courtesy of OPG.Lambton Generating Station in St. Clair Township. April, 2021 Photo courtesy of OPG.

Steel is sorted at the former Lambton Generating site in St. Clair Township. April, 2021 Photo courtesy of OPG.Steel is sorted at the former Lambton Generating site in St. Clair Township. April, 2021 Photo courtesy of OPG.

Steel is loaded onto a truck at the former Lambton Generating site in St. Clair Township. April, 2021 Photo courtesy of OPG.Steel is loaded onto a truck at the former Lambton Generating site in St. Clair Township. April, 2021 Photo courtesy of OPG.

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