Plans to cap Hamilton Harbour’ infamous Randle Reef hav reached another high-water mar with Ottawa’s promise to cover a thir of the $90 million cost

But with the province having already anted up the same share, the still unanswered question is how much anyone other than taxpayers will foot the bill.

Mayor Fred Eisenberger said he’s confident Hamilton will come up with its $30-million portion to remediate the coal-tar blob, located off shore from U.S. Steel Canada — formerly Stelco — and considered the most toxic spot in the Great Lakes.

He said negotiations are underway with the Hamilton Port Authority — a federal agency — but acknowledged there are no firm commitments, including from local industry.

“It’s an open question and we’re going to sort that out as we go forward,” Mr. Eisenberger said at last week’s federal announcement at the Chamber of Commerce headquarters.

“Obviously, the municipality would help to do its share as well and we’re sorting out exactly what that number is,” he said.

“The critical piece is what the in-kind contributions will be and how that all plays out. We’ve been working on that for many years and I think the final commitments will be ironed out… in I expect the next coming months.”

If local financing remains murky, sentiments about the federal government’s contribution were crystal clear.

Environment Minister Jim Baird received a hero’s welcome from an audience that included some political adversaries but mostly people who have been pushing for action on Randle Reef for years.

To applause, he rejected that capping, rather than removal, of the coal tar is a Band-Aid solution, as some critics have charged.

The 9.5-hectare “containment facility” will be made of double-steel walls and a clay bottom, and hold 630,000 cubic metres of sediment that is high in polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, linked to cancer, birth defects and developmental problems.

Expected to have a lifespan of 200 years, once completed one-third of the facility will be naturalized, with the remainder converted into a shipping pier.

“I think there’s no perfect solution,” Mr. Baird said, noting the project is supported a broad range of stakeholder partners.

“I think there’s a good consensus, while not unanimous. What is not going to happen is more studies, more debate, more foot dragging another 10 or 20 years until this problem is addressed.

“We want to see this addressed as quickly as possible to deal with the water-quality issues.”

Hamilton East-Stoney Creek NDP MP Wayne Marston said he’s thrilled by the cash for the project, key to efforts to de-list the harbour as a Great Lakes area of concern by 2015.

He said he’s “confident the business community will rise to this” given that the cap’s liner will be made from steel and Hamilton has two steel mills.

“There’s an international stain because of this,” Mr. Marston said. “It will be very hard, when you’ve got $60 million presented to you from two levels of government, for people not to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

Scott Koblyk, president of the multi-stakeholder Bay Area Restoration Council, said the onus on completing the project is now where it should be — locally.

“It gives us an opportunity to put our money where our mouth is and to keep this project on track, on schedule and to protect our watershed for future generations,” he said.

“This is a huge local priority, as everyone in the room knows, but we also feel it is an important priority for anyone who is concerned with the health of the Great Lakes on both sides of the border.”