The clean-up of Morgan's Point appears to be finally underway with an advertisement for clearance contractors.

An invitation to tender was published in the Official Gazette for a Government contract to clear vegetation from a landfill area.

The Ministry of Works and Engineering did not respond to this newspaper's requests for comment, but the advertisement appears to be the first stage of the long-awaited clean-up of the US baseland.

It states that "experienced vegetation clearance contractors" are invited to remove vegetation including tree roots, from a 9.8 acre landfill site. The deadline for submissions is next Wednesday.

It is not yet clear what the site will be used for in the redeveloped Morgan's Point, of which Southlands Ltd. will own 80 acres and Government will retain 180.

The three owners of Southlands Ltd. were given the brownfield land in exchange for 27 acres of greenfield site at the Southlands estate following a public outcry over plans to build a hotel there.

Government announced the land swap deal in April 2008, with Premier Ewart Brown saying it was "most likely" the South Shore estate would become a national park.

Craig Christensen of Southlands Ltd. was off-Island and unavailable for comment on the progress of the relocated resort.

The initial blueprint features two five-star hotels, a fractional-ownership private residence club, marina, 18-hole championship golf course, world-class spa and watersports.

Any development at the former US Naval Air Station however, will depend on successful environmental remediation of thousands of gallons of petroleum products and chemicals, and the removal of asbestos-riddled buildings.

As announced by Dr. Brown in late 2007, the cost will be footed by the taxpayer.

It is not yet known what the costs will be, but an independent report in 1997 by consultants J.A. Jones Environmental Services Company estimated the remediation of the 260-acre peninsula at $15 million.

A Government spokesperson said in August: "The former US naval base is to be cleaned of all contaminants prior to being partly handed over to a developer for the construction and operation of resort, marina, hotel and golfing facilities.

"The project involves the removal and burying of all asbestos-containing materials from the existing buildings; the demolition of all buildings on the site; the removal of a number of underground fuel storage tanks.

"It also involves the removal of several miles of underground fuel pipeline; the remediation of areas of split and leaked fuel; the cleaning up of Bassett's Cave, contaminated with various petrochemical and sewage deposits; and the capping of two landfill sites, including constructing new seawalls where they are adjacent to the sea."

Potential contractors for the clean-up were invited to submit a request for qualification to the Ministry by November 2008.

The Bermudian and international companies prequalified to tender were then invited to make a site visit and to meet Government representatives in August.

The deadline for tender was September 18, and a decision on the successful contractor is expected shortly.

Last month, Works and Engineering Minister Derrick Burgess said applicants included "a number of selected international consultancies who we feel have the necessary skills to carry out this important and complex task".

He said: "We are expecting submissions to come from companies, possibly with subcontractors to handle specialist aspects of the work, such as monitoring the asbestos removal."

He added the price of the contract "will not be known until we award the contract".

Government has not yet disclosed who has submitted tenders and when a decision will be made on the contract.

A decision is also pending on who is to supervise the clean-up process.

Government issued a request for proposal for "client representation services" in July 2007, with the deadline for tender today.

The successful applicant(s) will be responsible for: supervising the contractor through the remediation process; measuring progress to determine payments; monitoring asbestos levels around demolition works; preparing status reports; and redesigning the works "if necessitated by conditions on site".