Agency Seeks Engineering Design for Cleanup
The Sydney Tar Ponds Agency has asked four firms for proposals to carry out the detailed engineering design of the $400-million project.
The successful bidder will also be responsible for managing construction contracts during the cleanup.
"This is a significant milestone in the cleanup," said Frank Potter, acting chief executive officer of the agency. "The design of the project is a key building block, and will have a tremendous influence on the success of the cleanup."
The request for detailed proposals is the second step in a two-stage tendering process. Last summer the agency asked for expressions of interest in the design work. Six firms responded. Based on those submissions, the agency has invited four to submit detailed proposals.
The qualifying firms are: TARget Engineering Group (a consortium of Jacques Whitford, SNC-Lavalin and ENSR), SGE Acres and Weston Solutions, Golder Associates and AMEC, and EarthTech and CBCL.
As part of the assessment of the bids, each company will make a presentation to the agency's engineering staff. For the first time, the scoring of bids will include the amount of local economic benefit each proposal provides.
The successful bidder will supply detailed design of the cleanup, documents for construction contracts, supervision of construction work, project management, and a variety of consulting and advisory services.
A joint federal-provincial environmental assessment of the cleanup is currently underway. The ultimate design of the project will reflect any changes that may result from that assessment.
The current cleanup plan for the Tar Ponds, developed by the governments of Canada and Nova Scotia, calls for the removal and destruction of the worst contaminants in an approved incinerator to be located at the former Victoria Junction Coal Wash Plant. Remaining materials would be stabilized and solidified in place, and then contained within an engineered containment system.
At the Coke Ovens, the plan is to treat surface soils with land farming, a form of bioremediation, and then contain the site within an engineered containment system.