SYDNEY, N.S. - An aboriginal company has won a $3.1-million contract to operate and maintain a material processing facility for the Sydney tar ponds and coke ovens cleanup.
Mikjikj Enterprises Ltd. and Harbour Tech Services Inc. Joint Venture was awarded the multi-year contract by the federal and provincial governments and the Membertou reserve on behalf of the five First Nations in Cape Breton.
The facility will begin operations in October and run until the cleanup is complete.
All material and debris from the cleanup of the tar ponds and former Sydney Steel coke ovens site will be graded, sorted, and washed in the facility.
The federal and provincial governments have committed $400 million to the cleanup, which is expected to be done by 2014.
The tar ponds are filled with 700,000 tonnes of toxic sludge left by a century of steelmaking at the former Sydney Steel plant.
