Tender Announced for Coke Ovens Cleanup

The Sydney Tar Ponds Agency is seeking bids to build a groundwater collection system and remove sediment from Coke Ovens Brook, a significant part of the coke ovens site cleanup.

The underground system will consist of an interceptor line that runs upstream of Coke Ovens Brook. An underground trench will also be constructed adjacent to Victoria Road to collect groundwater under the Domtar site. Collected groundwater will be pumped to an onsite water treatment facility and tested as part of the project's long-term monitoring plan.

Sediment in the brook will be removed and properly contained onsite until it is transported to the tar ponds to be solidified and stabilized. Large debris will be transported to an onsite material processing facility, which is under construction.

The tender is an aboriginal set-aside, which ensures involvement by companies with majority aboriginal ownership and control, and a workforce that is 75 per cent aboriginal.

Work is expected to begin in October and take about six months to complete.

Coke Ovens Brook is a stream that flows through the coke ovens site to the south tar pond. It is fed by waters flowing overland and from several streams. Contaminated material (coal, coke, coal tar) was deposited into the brook during the coke-making process.

The coke ovens site covers 68 hectares. Recent cleanup activities have removed most above-ground structures and channels were constructed onsite to protect clean water traveling through the site.

The tender is funded under the $400-million, federal and provincial cost-share agreement. The aboriginal set-aside for this project follows the government of Canada's aboriginal set-aside policy.