DAN MACDONALD
How One Alumnus Helped Change the History of a Community
Alumnus Dan MacDonald graduated from the former Xavier Junior College in 1970 and is currently Senior Project Manager at CBCL. A 45-year career that has seen Dan work on major projects all over North America, an accomplishment that makes him incredibly proud. But one project, located in the heart of downtown Sydney, Nova Scotia, ranks among the top of his list of favourites – the remediation of the Sydney Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens site.
Dan has completed a master's in applied science in structural engineering and has worked on some of the largest construction projects on Cape Breton Island, including the Joan Harris Cruise Pavilion, Stora Enso and various constructions at Cape Breton University. Dan also shares his insights and leadership with multiple community organizations and businesses, including a board member with the Cape Breton Partnership, Engineers Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Mining Association and the Sydney Credit Union.
"I have been so fortunate to have a hand in many interesting and impactful projects throughout my career, and some I have been able to see full circle," says Dan. "In 1975, I worked to rebuild the ferry terminal in Port aux Basque, N.L. Thirty-five years later, the terminal's steel and frame had become stressed and fragile and needed to be replaced. Again, I found myself on that project and thought with a chuckle–so has the engineer."
Dan remembers back to his time at CBU, then "Little X" very fondly and has many great memories. One thing that has always stuck with him was something that his professor at the time told his class. "To fail a course is not the end of the world, to quit altogether is the end of the world. Don't give up. If you got to this point and got into university, you deserve to be here and don't let one roadblock deter you."
This sentiment can also be applied to the work and dedication it would take to clean up one of Canada's worst toxic waste sites at the time.
For our Alumni who may not be familiar with the former Tar Ponds and Coke Oven site, this was a hazardous waste site located in a tidal estuary at the mouth of Muggah Creek. Throughout the 19th century, runoff from a coke ovens site associated with a steel plant filled the estuary with steel production-based contaminants. Over the course of 100 years of steel and coke production, a toxic waste site located in the middle of downtown Sydney was left behind.
"When I was young, my father drove the bus from Sydney to New Waterford. And I remember going through Whitney Pier, located next to the old steel plant, and you would have to put the wipers on because the ore dust was so thick. And there are many other stories just like that," says Dan. "To be able to play a lead role in cleaning up that site and helping change the landscape of our community for future generations was so special to me."
After much debate, community consultation and technical studies, a $400 million-dollar plan was announced to clean up the site. The cleanup project began in 2007 and was completed in 2013, leaving behind a beautiful green space in the heart of downtown Sydney called Open Hearth Park. Dan was the Engineering Manager through his firm, CBCL, who led several of the cleanups' main components. Open Hearth Park is now a place enjoyed by the community and an area of pride for all those who took part in the cleanup project.
"I am very proud to have my name on the site, along with the hundreds of other people who worked to make the project a success," says Dan. "My daughter was an equipment operator on the site, and her name is also there. And now, when I get to see my grandchildren playing football on the field, I can't help but think of how the project has come full circle and has left behind such a significant asset to the community."
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