Bids Sought for Coke Ovens Brook
The Sydney Tar Ponds Agency has called tenders for the construction of new channels for Coke Ovens Brook.
The work, which will take place this summer and next, marks a major step in the cleanup of the Coke Ovens property. It will greatly reduce the flow of contaminants into the Tar Ponds while the big cleanup awaits environmental assessment by a full panel review.
"This is an exciting development," said Richard Morykot, the Sydney Tar Ponds Agency engineer who will supervise the project. "It's a big step in the cleanup of the Coke Ovens site, and it will give Sydney residents a chance to see how our former industrial lands can be safely managed and restored."
The brook currently flows through some of the more heavily contaminated portions of the Coke Ovens, and provides a pathway for contaminant-laden groundwater to reach the Tar Ponds. Last summer, an engineering report by ADI Limited recommended dividing the brook into two branches.
The north branch will run along the Whitney Pier side of the Sydney Coal Railway and the Sydney Port Access Road (SPAR), picking up flows from several smaller brooks along the way. It will cross under the tracks and the SPAR just east of Lingan Road, and follow the rail spur onto the Coke Ovens.
The south branch will start at the outflow from the MAID Pond, behind the Schwartz building on Vulcan Avenue. It will meander through an area known as Mullen's Bank, parallel to Vulcan Avenue, until it merges with Cagney Brook, then turn north, parallel to Victoria Road. The two channels will meet near the Victoria Road overpass.
Part of the relocated south branch will be piped underground, and portions of both branches will be lined with synthetic material or clay to prevent recontamination.
The tender closes on Friday, July 8, and work will begin in late July or early August.
ADI's design for the brook relocation is available on the Sydney Tar Ponds Agency website at www.tarpondscleanup.ca .
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency cleared the work after an environmental screening. Approval from the Nova Scotia Department of Environment and Labour is pending.
The re-routing of the brook is the latest in a series of steps to clean up the site.
The old municipal landfill at the east end of the site, which has been leaking large amounts of contaminated groundwater onto the Coke Ovens, was capped and contained in 2002. Derelict structures and surface debris have also been removed from the site.
The federal and provincial cleanup partners financed an interceptor sewer to stop the flow of raw municipal sewage into the Tar Ponds and the brooks that feed it. The sewer was completed nearly two years ago. It will be hooked up when Cape Breton Regional Municipality's new sewage treatment plant at Battery Point goes into operation later this summer.
Engineering work and environmental screening continue on three other projects that have been advanced to prevent environmental damage while the big cleanup undergoes a full panel review ordered by the federal government. The projects include the construction of a dam at Battery Point, the cleanup of the cooling pond at the southwest corner of the Sysco property, and the relocation of the Victoria Road water main.