The federal and provincial governments are set to spend at least another $30 million to clean up the 100-year-old toxic stew of contaminants in Victoria’s Rock Bay area.
Transport Canada opened bidding Wednesday on a contract to dam Rock Bay Harbour, drain the water and truck away hundreds of loads of contaminated soil.
It’s the latest step in what has ballooned into one of most complicated and expensive contaminated site clean-up projects in B.C.
Interested companies will tour the area at the north end of Store Street next week, as part of the bidding process, according to Transport Canada.
Rock Bay is the site of a former coal gasification facility that dumped tar and chemicals into the bay from 1862 to 1949.
B.C. Hydro and Transport Canada have tackled the cleanup project jointly, with Hydro handling the uplands and Transport Canada the harbour area.
Most recently, Hydro began demolishing buildings in the 2100-block of Government Street, which used to house a Super Save Gas and Club Phoenix gym, to get access to the contaminated soil beneath the development.
It’s expected to cost $30 million to $35 million for the current stage of damming and draining the harbour. That does not include additional project-management costs, Transport Canada spokeswoman Sau Sau Liu said.
Hydro has spent $51.8 million so far, which includes an $18.8-million contribution toward the current damming phase of the project.
Transport Canada has spent $19 million, not including damming.
The exact budget and project costs will be known once the tendering process is complete, Liu said.
Work is expected to begin in April and be completed no later than Jan. 30, 2016, according to Transport Canada documents.
The original budget for the project in 2004 was $32 million, with completion in 2007.
But the two levels of government found far more contamination than expected, and the project has been plagued by cost overruns since work began.
Hydro expects to recover some of its money through electricity rate hikes and sales of property once it is clean.
Transport Canada sold some of its property to the Songhees and Esquimalt First Nations for $2.8 million. That deal is set to be completed once the remediation is finished.
More than 200,000 tonnes of contaminated soil has been removed from the site since work began.
