Minister Receives Report from Remediation Monitoring Oversight Board

A recent report has found that the Department of Environment continues to successfully regulate the Sydney Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens Cleanup Project.

The department today, June 28, received its third report from the Remediation Monitoring Oversight Board about its performance as the primary regulator of the Sydney Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens Cleanup Project.

"We appreciate the work of the board to monitor our role as regulator for the cleanup of this large and complex project," said acting Environment Minister John MacDonell. "I'm very pleased this independent review has found that we're doing a good job to deliver on our regulatory responsibilities."

Report findings show that the department is effectively regulating the project and taking appropriate actions to protect the environment and address concerns about odour at the site. The department will review the report before responding to the board.

The Remediation Monitoring Oversight Board was created in January 2008 to monitor regulatory performance of the Department of Environment, including project permits and approvals issued, project regulatory issues, and public feedback. The board reports annually to the Minister of Environment.

The members of the board are Sinclair Dewis, Edwin MacLellan and Colin Hines.

A copy of the Remediation Monitoring Oversight Board report is available at www.gov.ns.ca/nse .

The clean up is scheduled to be complete by March 31, 2014.