Government has confirmed that cleaning up polluted Morgan's Point will cost almost $30 million but has not set any money aside in this year's Budget for the project.

Ministry of Works and Engineering permanent secretary Robert Horton told The Royal Gazette that the estimated cost of the work was $28.5 million.

He said: "The Morgan's Point remediation project is in the preliminary stages and total authorised funding (TAF) has not yet been identified. Once funding for this project has been identified, a TAF will be created."

He said expenditure to date — including $42,500 already spent on clearing vegetation — would be transferred to the TAF at that point.The former US Naval Annex on the border of Southampton and Sandys was left heavily polluted with asbestos, metals, petroleum products and other chemicals when the American military left the Island in 1995.

Government said in 2007 that taxpayers would foot the bill to clean it up but Mr. Horton revealed last month that work was delayed while "alternative funding sources" were sought.

On Tuesday, the Southlands Ltd. group presented plans to Cabinet for a luxury tourism resort on the 240-acre brownfield site, which has been left to fall into a state of disrepair over the last 15 years.

A source at the meeting said the company — which wants to swap its 37-acre Southlands estate in Warwick for 80 acres at Morgan's Point — indicated it would consider cleaning up the peninsula if asked.

Southlands director Craig Christensen told this newspaper on March 12: "We need dialogue to talk about that. It's just coming up with a solution."

He said Southlands would need to work closely with Government and the remediation crew, in any event. "If they cleared out one area first, we could get going [on the hotel development]," he added.

Mr. Christensen suggested that most of the clean-up could be done within a year. "The most difficult part is getting out the asbestos. It's in underground pipes. The oil is a big messy job. That's according to the Government's consultants."

He shared maps drawn up in 2000 showing where the pollution lies on Morgan's Point. The drawings reveal black oil, jet fuel, diesel and kerosene.

The remediation team will have to tackle 500,000 gallons of jet fuel lying dormant and a thick layer of viscous oil in Bassett's Cave.

The Island accepted an $11 million settlement from the Americans after they left their Bermuda base, which also included Southside.

The PLP Government has tried to persuade the US to pay for the Morgan's Point clean-up in recent years during talks in Washington.

Last year's Budget also saw nothing set aside for the Morgan's Point clean-up. The year before it was included in a $125 million allocation for capital projects.

The clean-up work was put out to tender in November 2008. Five companies — whose names have not been released — bid for the main contract.

A smaller $42,500 contract to clear vegetation from a landfill area was awarded to Building Blocks and that work has been completed. Mr. Horton said this week he could give no further information on an alternative funding source for the environmental clean-up.