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Costly cleanup in Cape Breton - Miner cleanup final cost jumps by more than 50 per cent

After going into arbitration with the company awarded the cleanup, the final cost paid by the province for removing the "Canadian Miner" from the shores of Scatarie Island is $18.5 million. R.J. MacIsaac Construction, the Antigonish-based company that won the contract for the work, was originally to be paid $11.9 million for removal of the derelict vessel from the shores of Scatarie Island when the contract was announced just over three years ago. But an arbitration process following the completion of the job saw the company paid an additional $6.6 million, a department spokesperson told the Cape Breton Post. The province had indicated that the unanticipated discovery of asbestos and diesel fuel on board once R.J. MacIsaac began to remove the wreckage added significantly to the cost and scope of the project, which was completed in late 2015. The department was now considering next steps with regards to approaching the federal government now that costs have been finalized. Amanda McDougall, councillor for the Cape Breton Regional Municipality’s District 8 and a community advocate who spoke on behalf of the Main-a-Dieu Community Development Association during much of the effort to have the wreck cleaned up, said she expected it would be an expensive endeavour. McDougall noted that a settlement essentially was constructed on the island to accommodate those working on the cleanup, with the goal of leaving as faint a footprint as possible once the work ended. She added she appreciates that the province took on the task and the cost of cleaning up the wreck when it wasn’t its responsibility, and now she said it’s time for Ottawa to ante up and commit to assisting with the cost. Alfie MacLeod, MLA for Sydney River-Mira-Louisbourg, noted his party fought the recent provincial election on a platform that included a pledge to automatically review any project that comes in more than 10 per cent above its projected cost. He said he believes safeguards need to be in place for when projects are on track to exceed estimated costs.

R.J. MacIsaac Construction suing Inmarca Holdings for breach of contract

The Antigonish marine building and demolition company R.J. MacIsaac Construction is suing Inmarca Holdings for breach of contract, according to a lawsuit filed in Supreme Court of Nova Scotia. R.J. MacIsaac was contracted to remove the wreck of the "Miner" off Cape Breton’s Scaterie Island for $11.9 million after the ship ran aground in 2011. The lawsuit alleged that the Ontario-based Inmarca failed to pay an agreed $230 per metric tonne for 8,000 tonnes of scrap metal resulting from the ship’s scrapping. R.J. MacIsaac, headed by Boyd MacIsaac, was now seeking damages for alleged breach of contract, interference with contractual and economic relations and bad faith. The company further alleged that Inmarca agreed the demolition company would buy the "Catherine Desgagnes", deliver it to Louisbourg then sell it to Inmarca, to transport the metal. This part of the deal was valued at $500,000, the suit said. The ship was delivered to Sydney Harbour in January 2016, but Inmarca did not pay for or take the ship, the lawsuit said. The company also alleges it then tried to mitigate losses by selling the ship and the metal to India-based Aim Recycling Group, but that Inmarca then called Aim and interfered with that deal by claiming to own both, resulting in R.J. MacIsaac getting a lower price for the ship and the scrap. Inmarca has not filed a defence

Payment for Miner removal still unsettled

The provincial government continues to await the final bill for the removal and cleanup of the "Miner". Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Minister Geoff MacLellan couldn't point to an exact date when the total cost would be known, but said government officials were in regular contact with Antigonish contractor R.J. MacIsaac Construction, the company that carried out the cleanup, to determine the numbers. They were working closely with them and waiting for the final numbers to be calculated. There was no timeline but they will want to get it to figured out shortly. The removal of the ship was completed in 2015, but negotiating and sorting through details of the cost of the additional work has been a process for both the government and the contractor. Once a final figure is nailed down, exactly who will be contributing to the cost of the cleanup remains unknown at this point. Initially, the Nova Scotia government was left to absorb the cost of the cleanup as the Conservative federal government at the time said it wasn't responsible for any part of the clean-up bill because the wreck did not present an environmental or navigational hazard. But with the unexpected discovery of asbestos and diesel fuel during the clean-up process, the province is hoping the federal Liberal government will reconsider and pay some of the costs. The federal government has asked for detailed information and breakdowns of the project costs.