Tar Ponds Agency Awards Contract for Detailed Cleanup Design

The Sydney Tar Ponds Agency has awarded the contract for the detailed engineering design of the Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens cleanup to Earth Tech Canada Inc.

Earth Tech, an international firm, and its local partner, CBCL Ltd., will carry out the detailed engineering for the cleanup, and supervise construction during the eight-year project.

The company will start work immediately, preparing design and tender documents for the construction of new, clean-water channels through the Tar Ponds next summer.

Earth Tech was one of three engineering firms to bid on the $30-million contract. Evaluators ranked Earth Tech first in technical merit and local economic benefits, and a close second in price. Technical merit accounted for 75 per cent of the evaluation score, local economic benefits 15 per cent, and price 10 per cent.

As part of its commitment to generate local economic benefits from the project, Earth Tech will open an engineering design centre in Sydney. The company said cleanup-related design work will provide a base workload for the centre, which will attract international environmental design business.

"This is a wonderful example of the added value we expect the cleanup to bring to Cape Breton Regional Municipality's economy," said Frank Potter, acting chief executive officer of the Tar Ponds Agency. "Cleaning up this notorious eyesore will bring economic benefits in its own right, but Earth Tech has accepted our challenge to find creative ways of transferring knowledge and business to Sydney."

Other goals of Earth Tech's local economic benefits plan include:

• Design work packages that will allow local companies to carry out almost all construction work on the cleanup

• Work with Cape Breton University to identify possible research projects, and support students through scholarships

• Buy as many goods and services as possible from local businesses

• Through an affirmative action program, create short term jobs for disabled persons, First Nations, visible minorities, and women.

Joe Sullivan, a New Waterford native who will head the Earth Tech project team, said leaving a permanent legacy in Sydney is a key goal.

"We wanted to leave every dollar we could in the local economy, and to involve as many groups, institutions and individuals as possible in some aspect of the cleanup," Mr. Sullivan said.

Officials of Earth Tech and the Sydney Tar Ponds Agency met for two days this week to plan details of how the cleanup will proceed. Design work will begin immediately. Construction of clean water channels through the Tar Ponds will take place next summer.

"Earth Tech has a proven track record in designing and managing environmental cleanups," said Mr. Potter, "We can't wait to get started."

Final details of the cleanup will depend in part on the federal and provincial governments' response to the report of the joint review panel. That response is expected by year end.

The two levels of government have committed up to $400 million, to clean up more than one million tonnes of contaminated material over the next eight years.