Halifax eyes $130K to clean up last of oil from school site
More funding to complete the cleanup of oil leftover from a previously contaminated school site in Halifax has received another vote of approval.
Halifax's audit and finance committee voted without discussion to recommend regional council increase the budget by $130,000 for soil remediation near the former Clarence A. Beckett school site on Fenerty Road, off St. Margarets Bay Road.
"It has to be done. It has to be completed," councillor and committee member Steve Craig said Friday.
"I understand, as they got into the work, they found additional issues, and they have to be cleaned up. You can't leave it sitting not completed."
School board pays most
The school's furnace oil spill dates back more than 20 years and wasn't entirely cleaned up by Halifax Regional School Board, a report from city staff said.
The school board has since agreed to shoulder 90 per cent of the cleanup's cost, with the other 10 per cent being billed to the municipality.
This extra funding is to wrap up the final soil remediation work on one private homeowner's land.
Coun. Steve Adams said he supports the budget increase — the majority of which, he noted, will be paid for by the school board.
"Thirteen thousand dollars to make sure the job's done well? That's fine," Adams said.
A spokesperson from Halifax Regional School Board could not be reached for comment late Friday afternoon.
