Federal contaminated sites are a legacy of past practices, the environmental consequences of which were not fully understood at the time. They are sites that are now under the responsibility of federal government departments and contain chemical substances (e.g., heavy metals, PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) or petroleum products) that pose or are likely to pose risks to human health or the environment.

To address these sites, the Government of Canada establishment a Federal Contaminated Sites Action Plan (FCSAP). The main objective of FCSAP is to reduce the risks these sites may pose to the human health and the environment, an outcome that will benefit all Canadians.

As of 2010, there are over 19,000 federal contaminated sites currently listed on the Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory (FCSI), which is maintained by the Treasury Board Secretariat. They range in size and type from small areas of soil contaminated by spilled fuel or leaking batteries to very large abandoned mine sites in the North that are contaminated by heavy metals and other dangerous substances. These sites are the result of federal actions or operations that occurred on federal lands in the past, or at sites that are now the direct responsibility of the federal government, such as abandoned mines in the North or former military bases located on federal lands.

For more information, please visit the Federal Contaminated Sites Web site at ww.federalcontaminatedsites.gc.ca.

• Federal Contaminated Sites Inventory (FCSI)
• Guidance and Orientation for the Selection of Technologies (GOST)
  
• Government of Canada Publications (http://publications.gc.ca/)