The federal government has pledged to spend $100-million to help clean up one of Nova Scotia’s most polluted sites.
The effluent lagoons at Boat Harbour, near the Pictou Landing First Nation, are contaminated with millions of litres of treated waste water from the nearby Northern Pulp paper mill.
The money will be used to help restore the lagoons to their natural state as a tidal estuary that empties into the Northumberland Strait.
The plan is to remove contaminated soil and sediment and deal with toxic materials that have accumulated in the lagoons for more than 50 years.
The company is legally bound to stop using the treatment facility that pumps waste water into the Boat Harbour lagoons by January 2020.
The parent company of Northern Pulp, Paper Excellence, has said it will need more time to get ready, but Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil has insisted the deadline will not change.