£6m to decontaminate Army base

The cable will link Northern Ireland directly to the US

It is going to cost about £6m to decontaminate a former Army base in Londonderry, the BBC has learned.

The Fort George site has been earmarked as the location for Project Kelvin, but more than half the site is contaminated with heavy metals.

Project Kelvin is a telecommunications initiative - which is expected to bring major benefits to the local economy.

Ilex, the company carrying out the site regeneration, has said the site poses no risk to human health.

The company intends to build a telehouse at the former Army base.

The telehouse will be the point where a transatlantic cable will link to the Northern Ireland telecoms network.

The cable will connect Northern Ireland directly to the US for the first time.

It will connect Northern Ireland with the Hibernia North Transatlantic cable, located 22 miles off the north coast.

The fibre optic cable, which runs along the seabed, will interconnect with Northern Ireland's existing telecoms infrastructure as well as that of the Republic of Ireland.

The project had attracted controversy because of a dispute over the location for the telehouse.

It was originally planned for Derry, but the Department of Enterprise then said it would be built in Coleraine.

That decision was reversed after a campaign by politicians and business people in Derry.

In February, Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster confirmed the telehouse would be located in city.