Agency Schedules Open House

The Sydney Tar Ponds Agency has invited residents of north-end Sydney to an open house to discuss how construction of the Battery Point barrier will affect their neighbourhood.

J&T Van Zutphen Construction will begin work soon on construction of a rock barrier between the Tar Ponds and Sydney Harbour.

The barrier will extend from Battery Point in Sydney's north end, near the Cape Breton Regional Municipality (CBRM) sewage treatment plant, to Harbourside Commercial Park (formerly Sysco). A gap in the structure will accommodate water flowing through the Muggah Creek estuary.

The barrier is needed to prevent the release of Tar Ponds sediment into Sydney Harbour when work begins on the big cleanup.

The contractor will use slag from Sydney Steel and coarse stone from a nearby quarry to build the structure. At the same time, a soil berm surrounding the sewage treatment plant will be excavated and trucked to the CBRM landfill.

This work will temporarily increase truck traffic in parts of the north end.

The agency has distributed flyers throughout the neighbourhood inviting residents to the open house.

Project planners will be on hand to explain the job and discuss concerns.

The open house will take place Friday, May 26, at St. George's Anglican Church hall, on Napean Street, Sydney, from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m.

For information on this project and all aspects of the Tar Ponds Cleanup, see the agency's website www.tarpondscleanup.ca .