Only an hour away from the hustle and bustle of Toronto lies a quiet old barn in the countryside of Caledon East. A quiet crackling noise comes from the main entrance. Two scientists from Canadian Nuclear Laboratories are busy inside the building, armed with radiation detection equipment. They find contaminated spots on the barn’s walls and floor and mark them with bright orange paint. The beams must be dismantled, the soil excavated, and everything then disposed of in a nuclear waste facility in Chalk River. “This story will never end,” sighs Andrew Stewart, the owner of the property, who looks on as the operation unfolds.
The scientists’ visit is the latest in a long series that began in the 1970s. Stewart’s parents, the previous owners of the land, were not especially worried at the time. The nuclear scientists were always reassuring as they surveyed the property. But Stewart’s dream of a new house on the hill was shattered, and he now hopes to better understand what happened on his land.
