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Got Pollution? Lake Ontario City Puts It In Giant Box

iStock/Elizabeth Quillian

Imagine a huge steel box – whose lid is 10 football fields across. That’s what the city of Hamilton is building on the western end of Lake Ontario. It’s designed to clean up the most polluted spot on Canada’s side of the Great Lakes. And as Veronica Volk with Great Lakes Today reports, residents hope it will improve Hamilton’s reputation too. 

The port of Hamilton, Ontario has a grim distinction: It is home to the most polluted site on Canada’s side of the Great Lakes. Now the area is undergoing a unusual cleanup. And residents hope it also will improve the town’s reputation.

Jon Gee is the Manager of Great Lakes Areas of Concern for Environment and Climate Change Canada. He's standing on a platform that overlooks a part of the harbor called Randle Reef.

"What you're looking at is the first half of the Randle Reef engineered containment facility."

The containment facility is a massive steel box, more than 10 football field across. And it was specially designed to contain the toxic black tar that sits at the bottom of the Harbor.

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