The Sydney Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens Sites Remediation, one of Canada’s first sustainable remediation projects, received the Award of Merit – Environment from the Consulting Engineers of Ontario, which recognizes some of the best engineering projects in Ontario and around the world with its annual award program.

AECOM is providing project management, design, remediation, regulatory compliance and construction oversight services for the project, which is being managed by the Sydney Tar Ponds Agency, a special operating agency of the Nova Scotia Government.

Over 100 years of steel production in Sydney, Nova Scotia resulted in the site’s contamination. The project involves the remediation of more than one million tons (907,000 tonnes) of contaminated soil and sediment spanning 270 acres (100 hectares).

“The Sydney Tar Ponds and Coke Oven Sites Remediation is a remarkable project,” said Doug Allingham, senior vice president and region executive, Canada East, AECOM. “It leaves a legacy  not only for the community of Sydney, Nova Scotia, but also for the 100-plus engineers, including more than 50 from AECOM’s Ontario offices, who worked on it.”

The project is also a winner of the Canadian Urban Institute’s 2012 Canadian Brownfields best overall project award and is ranked Canada’s largest environmental project by ReNew Canada magazine.