Sydney Tar Ponds Agency adds five employees to its ranks

Calibre of additional staff pleases official
Cape Breton Post
Thurs., Feb. 23, 2006

SYDNEY - The provincial agency in charge of cleaning up the toxic Sydney tar ponds and associated sites has announced the hiring of five new employees.

Carol Cunningham, of Sydney, and Jerome MacNeil, of Glace Bay, will serve as the agency's contract managers while Roy MacDonald, of Sydney Mines, will serve as risk and scheduling manager. John Chesal, of Big Bras d'Or, has been named communications officer and Lorraine Munroe, of Marion Bridge, will be the agency's library clerk and receptionist.

Acting chief executive officer Frank Potter said he is delighted to have such capable Cape Bretoners to fill the positions.

"John, Carol, Roy, Lorraine, and Jerome bring an exciting mix of experience, talent, and enthusiasm to our team," said Potter.

Several projects are on the agency's 'to-do list' this summer including the cleanup of the cooling pond off Inglis Street, the construction of a barrier between the north tar pond and Sydney Harbour at Battery Point, and completion of the re-routing of Coke Ovens Brook, a project that began last summer. All three jobs will be completed this year.

Cunningham has worked 10 years as an engineer and arranged logistics for shipping materials to the Caribbean, Panama, and Greenland, before starting her own consulting business which provides energy conservation services.

For 12 years, MacDonald has supervised construction projects for the Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Public Works. He is now responsible for keeping the cleanup project on schedule, and for identifying and assessing risks as the project proceeds.

MacNeil has been an environmental engineer for 11 years and previously worked on such projects as the Sydney waterfront development and the No. 11 landfill cleanup in Glace Bay.

Chesal, who recently retired as a producer at CBC Radio in Sydney, will be responsible for a variety of the agency's communications including its website - www.tarpondscleanup.ca, the quarterly newsletter, the Cleanup Times, and the community liaison committee. He will also be the agency's main media contact.

Munroe has worked with the agency as a temporary employee since 2004 and holds a diploma in executive secretarial sciences from Cape Breton University.