It will cost a staggering £40 million to dredge 94,000 tonnes of liquid tar from the former brick clay quarry at Llwyneinion and four years to complete, a meeting was told.
The poisonous depths of the lagoon had never been fully explored until last year when a scientific investigation was carried out by environmental engineering specialists from Germany.
Four scientists from Baufeld Engineering took to the water aboard a special raft and extracted 73 samples of acid tar and lagoon water which revealed a high concentration of pollution hydrocarbons, poly-aromatic hydrocarbons and sulphur.
The poisonous tar, a by-product of oil refining, was dumped in the lagoon before 1972.
Acid tar like that found at Llwyneinion has been used as a secondary fuel by power companies in Europe but not in the UK.
The £40m clean-up cost could be slashed significantly if the secondary fuel is used by UK companies, said Ponciau councillor Paul Pemberton.
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Source: Dredging Today