News release

Province Eager To Proceed With Tar Ponds/Coke Ovens Cleanup

Transportation and Public Works (to Oct. 2007)

TRANSPORTATION/PUBLIC WORKS--Province Eager To Proceed With Tar Ponds/Coke Ovens Cleanup


The province is encouraged that Tuesday's federal budget reconfirmed Ottawa's commitment to the Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens cleanup, Energy Minister Cecil Clarke said today, March 25.

"With this critical step behind us, we look forward to concluding negotiations with the federal government on a cost-sharing arrangement in the near future," said Mr. Clarke, speaking on behalf of Ron Russell, minister responsible for the Sydney Tar Ponds Agency.

Mr. Clarke said discussions on the technologies to be used in the cleanup are in the final stages, and governments expect the project will have a final price tag of about $400 million.

He confirmed that the provincial government set aside funding to clean up the Tar Ponds, Coke Ovens, and Sydney Steel Plant five years ago.

"Funding, already set aside for these sites in the 1999-2000 budget, will enable the province to participate in a joint cleanup of the Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens on a 70/30 basis with the federal government," Mr. Clarke said.

The province didn't just pick the numbers -- 70 per cent federal, 30 per cent provincial -- out of thin air, Mr. Clarke said. "There is a sound legal, factual, and historical basis for a 70- 30 cost-sharing arrangement."

Mr. Clarke noted that the federal government owns major portions of both the Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens, adding that 85 per cent of the PCB materials, the most serious contaminant on the site, rest in the federal portion of the Tar Ponds.

He added that the worst pocket of contamination on the Coke Ovens, a 25,000-tonne underground deposit known as the tar cell, was created when the federal government, through the Cape Breton Development Corporation, owned the Coke Ovens between 1968 and 1973.

Mr. Clarke said the $120 million Nova Scotia has set aside for the cleanup would be more than enough to clean up all the provincially owned property within the Muggah Creek watershed.

"Our preference would be to partner with the federal government in a joint cleanup," Mr. Clarke said. "However, we have not ruled out the option of proceeding on our own for the next phase if we are unable to agree on a cost-sharing arrangement in near future."

Mr. Clarke said that nearly 10 months had passed since the Joint Action Group submitted its cleanup recommendations to the federal and provincial governments.

"Residents of the Sydney area are more anxious than ever before to see this project move forward. They have shown great patience and tolerance on this issue, and it's important that we honour that fact by concluding our negotiations in a timely manner."

Mr. Clarke said he hopes an agreement on cost sharing can be completed in the near future, but he reiterated a commitment Premier John Hamm made in speech this month to the Sydney Board of Trade: "One way or another, this government is determined to see a cleanup plan in place within the very near future."

Mr. Clarke said the provincial government is not prepared to let negotiations drag on forever.

"Getting this project underway will represent the dawn of a new era -- not simply for the Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens, but for the Sydney area as a whole," Mr. Clarke said.

Mr. Clarke said the most immediate impact of the project would be felt by the community's engineering and construction industries.

"The project will create more than 2,700 person-years of employment for workers in these sectors over the next decade. But it represents much more than a 10-year employment venture. It represents an unprecedented opportunity for Sydney to realize its full potential as one of Canada's greatest places to live, work, visit, and invest. The magnitude of this opportunity is limited only by our imagination."

Mr. Clarke acknowledged and welcomed the leadership shown recently by the Junior Chamber of Commerce in rallying support for the cleanup within Sydney's business and labour communities.

"We look forward to working with groups like the Junior Chamber in an effort to identify ways in which Sydney can take maximum advantage of the opportunities which lie ahead," he said.