Town/City: 

Moosonee

State/Province: 

Ontario

Country: 

Canada

Latitude/Longitude: 

51°N 81°W

Information supplied by

Akrum Matuk

Akrum.Matuk@PWGSC.GC.CA

1650 Sheppard Ave.E., Toronto,Ontario,Canada,M2J 1V3

 416-590-8284 

Dated Sat Nov 21 00:23:22 1998 

Information Topics:

City Description:

The community of Moosonee (Moosonee Area Development Board) in the District of Cochrane, Township of Moose is a small community of 2300 (approximately 85% aboriginal) located on the west bank of the Moose River, approximately 13 km inland from the west coast of James Bay. Moosonee is accessible via air, train, and water; and a winter road connects it with other northern coastal communities. The primary industries in Moosonee are institutional (schools, hospitals, government facilities), and service oriented (including tourism).

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Climate:

Moosonee generally has long cold winters and short warm summers, with James Bay acting as a thermal reservoir to moderate and skew spring and fall temperatures. Freeze-up on the Moose River normally occurs in late October or early November, with mean daily minimum January temperatures approximately -27°C. Spring break-up occurs in April. Mean annual precipitation is approximately 660 mm, and mean annual snowfall is approximately 2413 mm (snow depth). Maximum accumulations of snow occur in mid-May.

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Basic Hydrogeology:

Moosonee is situated in the Hudson Bay Lowlands. The general physiography of the Hudson Bay Lowlands is comprised of Ordovician to Cretaceous carbonate rocks, overlain by muskeg with little relief, with a shallow elevation rise from Hudson and James Bays near sea level and increasing inland. The region, which is the largest area of organic terrain in the world, is characterized as a flat swampy plain, with up to 4 m of organic sediment (up to one metre in the Moosonee area), and having poor drainage. The Moosonee area is underlain by a crystalline bedrock (mean transmissivity 210 gpd/ft or 2.6 m2/d) at approximately 300m below sea level. Above that, a horizon of limestone and dolomite bedrock, considered to be an aquifer, has a thickness of approximately 275m, storativity of 4x10(-6), and a mean transmissivity of approximately 10(-4)m2/s. Other bedrock materials include Ordovician sandstone, Silurian sandstone, and siltstone. The till of the Hudson Bay Lowlands ranges from 60 to 145m in some areas. The overburden is largely comprised of marine clay and silt, a vestige of the post-glacial Tyrrell Sea. In Moosonee, this silty clay is generally overlain by a gravelly sand horizon with an approximately 0.5m thickness, which, in turn, is overlain by a fine silty sand horizon with an approximate thickness of 2 - 3m. The overburden is considered to be an aquitard, with a mean transmissivity of approximately 5000gpd/ft (62m2/d). Within Moosonee, perched groundwater has been identified within 0 - 1 m below ground surface.

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Water Use:

Commercial and domestic water supply is currently provided by two water treatment plants drawing from Store Creek and Butler Creek, respectively. Water treatment includes chlorination. A new water treatment plant, drawing from the Moose River, is under construction, with an expected commissioning date in December 1999. The new plant is expected to replace the existing two water treatment plants. There are two domestic water wells within a 75 km radius of Moosonee: one located on Moose Factory Island, and one located in the town of Moose River. Both wells were drilled by the Government of Canada. The well at Moose Factory (within 5 km of Moosonee), struck brackish water. Four observation wells were installed by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment in Moose Township in 1972. These wells generally observed fresh water at a depth of 0.9 - 1.8 m, and salt water at a depth of 18 - 20 m. Moosonee has two wastewater treatment plants. A new wastewater treatment plant is also under construction, and is expected to be commissioned in December 1999.

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Groundwater Issues:

Hudson Bay Drainage Basin, in which Moosonee is located, is imperfectly drained, the impeded run-off resulting in a perched watertable. Contributing to drainage problems are widespread permafrost and a short frost-free period. The Albany and Moose Rivers account for two-thirds of the total Ontario arctic watershed discharge, with peak flows during spring break-up in May. River water levels can reach 15 metres above mid-summer levels during this period. As well, frequent ice jams cause blocked drainage and result in flooding, providing recharge to the perched aquifer.

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Groundwater Problems:

Tidal influences of Hudson and James Bays are reportedly experienced as far as 15 to 20 km upstream on larger rivers, such as the Moose. The Moose River experiences tidal depth fluctuations of approximately two metres. Tidal effects, along with direct infiltration from James Bay, may be contributing factors to salt intrusions into the lower aquifer. In the sedimentary limestone/dolomite bedrock, total dissolved solids are approximaterly 4000mg/L, and common inorganic parameters are far in excess of permissible criteria for public use. The upper aquifer is effectively fresh water, likely due to infiltration of precipitation and surface water flooding. Total dissolved solids are approximately 400mg/L, and except for iron, common inorganic parameters are lower than permissible criteria for public use. Mercury, from natural sources, has been reported in many surface water bodies in the Hudson Bay Lowlands region, but there is no suggestion in the literature of mercury contamination of groundwater or surface water in the Moosonee area. Operations at the former Moosonee Radar Base, owned and operated by the Department of National Defence until 1976, have resulted in elevated levels or exceedances of generic groundwater quality criteria for various petroleum constituents, including benzene, toluene, and total petroleum hydrocarbons.

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Solutions:

Due to concerns regarding potability and potential contamination of groundwater, water supply is strictly drawn from surface fresh water sources: currently Store and Butler Creeks; in the future, Moose River.

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References and Other Author(s):

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Contacts:

Moosonee Area Development Board: (705) 336-2993
Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Toronto: (416) 235-6288
Ontario Ministry of the Environment, South Porcupine: 705-235-1600

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