Eight representatives from the federal government left Cape Breton Monday armed with a wealth of information about what many consider to be North America's worst toxic waste dump.
    The eight were in Sydney for a day long session with officials from the Joint Action Group (JAG), which is responsible for developing a community-based clean up plan of the .
    "They asked about JAG's operations, the technology available and the scope and the project," said Carl (Bucky) Buchanan, JAG chairperson.
    The federal reps came from Treasury Board and the departments of Environment and Finance.  The officials offer recommendations on how government should be spending its money.
    In addition to receiving a full description of JAG and its work, the reps also toured the site which includes the infamous Sydney tar ponds.
    The ponds contain 700,000 tonnes of toxic sludge -- polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), poly aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) -- left behind after nearly a century of unregulated dumping from steel manufacturing.  Other parts of the watershed include a municipal landfill and the former coke ovens site.
    Mike Britten, JAG's program coordinator, said one of the comments from representatives indicated an awareness of how important science will be in the decision making process.
    With an abundance of remediation technologies available, Britten said narrowing things down to one or two will be extremely difficult.
    Buchanan said the work of JAG -- formed in 1996 -- also impressed the visitors who were struck at the dedicated level of the volunteers.
    "A lot of people are watching the process as it could be used in other areas," he said.
    He said the visit gave these senior bureaucrats a first hadn look at the entire scope of the project.
    "It was an ideal opportunity for us to get the message out.  It's nice to have that kind of format," he said.
    Previous multi-million dollar attempts at a cleanup failed leaving many in the community skeptical athe ponds and associated areas will ever be considered safe again.
    JAG is funded by all three levels of government which have to date supported the process to the tune of about $10 million, said Britten.
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