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Earlier this week the federal government sat down with contractors to brainstorm affordable ways to clean up Hamilton’s Randle Reef.

Construction was set to begin in the spring but bids from contractors to do the work came in over budget.

The clean up is currently on hold.

On Friday, CHCH’s Melissa Raftis spoke with Roger Santiago from Environment Canada to get an update on the project. As the head of the sediment remediation unit, he says the main focus of the industry meeting Wednesday was to look at the long term strategy for the site, the engineering design and the schedule.

Both sides are seeking ways to keep the cost of clean up within the $139 million dollar target.

“We’ll take that information, we’ll share it with our partners and we’ll sit down and figure out what the best way to move forward with the project, given what we’ve heard from industry.” Santiago explained.

He’s been involved with Randle Reef since the early 1990’s and says the chosen solution blends different remedial approaches into one option.

Phase one will see the construction of a 7.5 hectare engineered containment facility over the worst contamination. The remaining 630-thousand cubic metres of toxic sediment will then be hydraulically dredged into the structure.

Once dredged, the containment facility will be capped and used as a pier. The project is expected to take about 8 years to complete.

Similar approaches have been used in the United States in areas near Seattle and Boston.

Santiago says the federal public works department will now be holding one on one sessions with interested contractors to identify the next steps and to determine when work on Randle Reef can finally begin.