Tar ponds agency seeks bids for $50M remediation project
Sydney- Tenders are being sought to contain 700,000 tonnes of toxic
sediment found within Canada's most notorious industrial waste site
The Sydney Tar Ponds Agency is seeking bids for a $50-million
remediation project to solidify and stabilize grounds at the former
Sydney steel plant. The tender is a bulk part of the overall
$400-million capping of the site by the federal and provincial
governments.
Agency spokesperson, Tanya Collier MacDonald, said the contract will be
awarded in five months. Interested companies must prove they can mix
cement and other ingredients into steel and coke waste to harden its
surface and prevent contaminated leakage.
Companies may use recipes tested in a lab by tar ponds engineers, or
adapt their own recipe assuming it meets the established criteria.
The successful contractor will also be responsible for building a
channel that allows water from two brooks to pass over the solidified
mass and flow into Sydney harbour.
" We have to show the regulators that we can solidify and stabilize the
sediment," said Collier MacDonald. " It's a performance-based contract
which means if they don't meet the criteria than they don't get paid.
Included in tender evaluations is a local economic benefits program,
where off-island companies, including those from the international
community, are encouraged to partner with Cape Breton companies for
local labour and community involvement.
Results from the pilot-scale testing completed this fall, must first be
submitted to the Nova Scotia Department of Environment for regulatory
approval before a full-scale project can proceed. The results will be
ready for review in early 2009.
epottie@cbpost.com
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