Opposition senators on Wednesday called on the Environment Ministry to act as a "watchdog" and take Government to task on environmental contamination at the Baselands.

But Environment Minister Neletha Butterfield hesitated to use the term "watchdog", instead saying her Ministry was working in consultation with the Ministry of Works and Engineering and the Bermuda Land Development Company (BLDC).

Government has been criticised for not including any funding in the Environment budget for clean-up at the Baselands. However, Government Sen. Neville Tyrell explained to the Senate yesterday that Works and Engineering and the BLDC manage the Baselands, and so funding for any environmental clean-up would come from those areas.

The Department of Environmental Protection is a "regulatory authority" responsible for setting standards in the clean-up and ensuring those standards are met, he said. The extent of the clean-up will depend on what the land is ultimately used for.

However, "We are trusting the Ministry to be our watchdog," Sen. Swan said. The Environment Ministry should be taking the BLDC and Works and Engineering to task to "ensure we start to make some progress.

"The Ministry has to step outside the box of Government and be what their name calls for ? our protector of the environment," he continued. "If another Ministry has to be taken to task, so be it."

Ms Butterfield said her Ministry would continue to consult with the BLDC, as well as the Ministry of Health on issues of sewage and asbestos on the Baselands.