Three weeks have passed since the release of the environmental site assessments (ESAs) for the former GM site on Ontario Street, and the task of fully understanding the implications of the report's findings is far from complete.
After more than two years of resisting disclosure, the City of St. Catharines was ordered by the provincial Information and Privacy Commissioner to release the documents on December 17. Since then City officials have been silent on the issue.
The 728 pages released offer the most accurate and detailed assessment to date of the 55-acre site. Although completed in 2012 and due for an update, the data on the types and concentrations of subterranean chemical compounds suggest any new study would likely reveal different conditions than those outlined in the vague reports that have been publicly released by local officials in the last few years, in the face of mounting demands from residents for full transparency around the former heavy industrial site near the heart of St. Catharines.
Not only are the toxins, found at a multitude of locations around the site, generally persistent (they do not easily break down), the 2012 EA identifies that samples taken represent only one discrete portion of the property at a particular point in time, and that under certain conditions substances of concern can be especially difficult to detect.
The revelation of hazardous chemicals found at alarming levels in 2012 was particularly disturbing to local residents, after the former industrial site was sold two years later for a high-end residential development aggressively pushed by the former mayor, Walter Sendzik, and supported by current Mayor Mat Siscoe and other current members of council, despite repeated calls for transparency about the potential danger the site poses. The previous council led by Sendzik ignored those pleas and rezoned the land from industrial to residential use without disclosing the information now in the hands of the public, which City officials had before the zoning change was made by council at the end of 2020.
Despite no efforts to conduct updated environmental assessments of the property, the development plan moved forward after the purchase of the lands in 2014, and without any knowledge of the site’s condition since the 2012 Phase-2 environmental assessment done for GM — which was marked “Privileged & Confidential” and kept from the public — the zoning was changed from industrial to accommodate new homes as part of the plan.
The environmental reports obtained by The Pointer and made public after a 30-month effort using Ontario’s freedom of information legislation, divide the site into three separate areas: the East Plant, bordered by residential houses, a park and small businesses; the West Plant, bordered by residential housing and small businesses; and the sloped area behind the West Plant that runs down to Twelve Mile Creek (TMC), bordered by trees and the creek.
The sloped area raises significant concerns due to its proximity to Twelve Mile Creek. Beyond the environmental risks to fish, birds, mammals and other wildlife, the creek also serves as a conduit for the movement of hazardous chemicals. This mechanical vectoring can exacerbate the negative impacts on the ecosystem and amplify the potential harm. ESA II, done in 2012, identifies the sloped section as an Area of Potential Environmental Concern (APEC), describing it as an area where excess foundry materials, foundry sands and other assorted materials have reportedly been historically placed. A lagoon for stormwater treatment was also operated in the area and received coolant when it was potentially released to the stormwater sewer during a spill event.
Table 8 of ESA II presents the metal and inorganic soil data for the sloped area, highlighting the substances that exceed provincial guidelines for safe limits and provides a comprehensive list of associated hazards. It is the first of six separate tables that define the toxins present on the sloped area and highlights those which exceed the reporting limits.
It’s a virtual ‘who’s who’ of heavy metals—many of which rank among the most toxic and hazardous to both human health and the environment. While the ESAs do not address the potential health risks associated with exposure to these metals, these dangers are well-documented. Known risks include a wide range of serious health conditions, such as neurological damage, kidney damage, bronchitis, emphysema, cancer, birth defects, and respiratory complications.
The National Library of Medicine (NLM), an official U.S. government website, conducted a substantive review and critique of the literature regarding residential proximity to environmental hazards and adverse pregnancy outcomes, childhood cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, end-stage renal disease, and diabetes. Several of the studies found that living near industrial sites is related to an increased risk of adverse health outcomes. The site notes that In several populations, maternal residential proximity to industrial complexes was associated with increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes, including central nervous system defects, oral clefts, chromosomal anomalies, undescended testis, perinatal mortality and low birth weight. It’s worth stating again that since releasing the ESA’s the city of St Catharines has been silent.
Heavy metals were not the only category of toxins found on the slope, PCBs were discovered at concentrations that reached up to 2,600 times the reporting limit. PCBs cause cancer, harm to the immune system, reproductive system, nervous system, endocrine system and other life-threatening health effects. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency “PCBs are a group of man-made organic chemicals consisting of carbon, hydrogen and chlorine atoms” and were manufactured from 1929. By the late ‘70s they were banned, but even 40 years later, they were still present in the ground at the former GM site at alarming concentrations.
Overall, according to testing done in 2011 for the EA that was completed in 2012, PCBs were found at 110 times the reporting limit. PAHs, PHCs, benzene, ethyl benzene, toluene, xylenes, hexane and other dangerous chemicals were also found at concentrations far beyond the allowable limits. It’s a long list of potentially dangerous chemicals that were lying in soil and ground water a few metres from twelve mile creek when the detailed testing was done for the EAs which were marked “Privileged & Confidential” and never shared with the public.
Detailed testing was done for the EAs which were marked 'Privileged & Confidential' and never shared with the public.
Provincial officials, using surface water testing which does not provide an accurate picture of the ground conditions, reported in 2020 that PCBs were detected in Twelve Mile Creek next to the former GM property and in stormwater flows that deposit into the creek. These findings were reported to council.
The testing was done using surface water samples and the outflow of stormwater runoff from the municipal storm system into the creek, and despite some samples that were above the threshold of allowable limits, provincial officials claimed there was no risk. It was acknowledged that proper testing involving multiple samples using deep bore holes, not just surface conditions, was not done.
Despite the conclusion of the 2020 surface water study (that there was no threat posed by the PCBs that were found) the report’s author noted that the provincial government was concerned about the planned development of residential units on the site and “requested that the current owner of the former GM property update the stormwater works when the development of the property resumes. I am supportive of this action as it will include a consideration to control the source of PCBs on the property to decrease the concentration discharging to Twelve Mile Creek.”
It remains unclear why the report presented to council, completed in December of 2020, made no mention of the ground testing results detailed in the 2012 Environmental Assessment. The provincial government has now acknowledged it had the EA as of January 2020, almost a year before its surface water study was finished and later presented to St. Catharines council.
The potential risks to human health and the environment are detailed in both the 2010 and 2012 EAs which were commissioned by GM when it was looking for a buyer after the industrial operation was shut down in 2010.
Despite having these reports since at least early 2020 (and possibly since they were completed more than a decade ago) and despite being forced to release them three weeks ago, City officials including Mayor Siscoe have remained silent. Questions from The Pointer have not been answered.
The EAs done more than a decade ago outlined several recommendations for the sloped area running down to the creek, including further investigation to assess whether the chemicals of concern, present at concentrations exceeding acceptable limits, are causing or could potentially cause adverse effects. Inquiries directed to Movengo Corp, the current property owner, regarding any actions to mitigate potential risks, have gone unanswered.
Last year Movengo announced it is not willing to pay for a required environmental assessment at the time, delaying the development project. In May, City staff explained to council that the planned EA (one has not been done since GM commissioned its EA in 2012 ahead of the sale of the property) and other studies would not be moving forward because Movengo was experiencing ongoing challenges related to the pandemic and other industry conditions. Staff said planning for the Ontario Street area would have to be paused for one year.
It remains unclear how the site was rezoned in 2020 without the completion of an EA or any other study to determine if the former heavy industrial property where highly toxic chemicals and dangerous heavy metals were used could ever safely be remediated to accommodate homes.
The sloped area leading to Twelve Mile Creek was a concern to Movengo. In June of 2020 Aaron Collina, president of Movengo, met privately with former mayor Walter Sendzik and a senior member of City staff to discuss the “GM lands”. Immediately following that meeting Collina sent an email to the mayor summarizing what they had discussed and the agreements he believed they had come to. Collina described, among other things, an agreement for the City to “add some pressure” on the Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) for it to accept a transfer of the sloped area so the conservation agency would be responsible for that part of the property. The NPCA is a natural resource management agency that protects, enhances and sustains area watersheds in Niagara. The NPCA’s funding comes partly from local tax dollars and if the City had been able to pressure the institution to accept the sloped area in a land transfer it could have effectively shifted the costs associated with any cleanup of toxic chemicals—taxpayers would have been on the hook.
The ownership transfer of the sloped area to the NPCA never happened, though it is unclear what caused the behind-the-scenes plan between Collina and Sendzik to fall off the rails.
Very little has been done to improve the condition of the sloped area. In 2021, in response to the provincial government’s confirmation of a continuous and significant leak of PCBs from the site, Movengo contracted environmental science and engineering firm MTE Consultants to identify the source and stop the leak. A review of the Ministry of Environment approved work plan revealed the work was focussed on the high levels of PCBs detected in the storm sewers which did not relate to mitigation of the sloped area.
As reported by the Pointer, in April the City announced that the planning process for the Ontario Street area had been halted “due to matters beyond staff control.” Citing challenges in the development market Movengo stopped work on the most significant and impactful studies including the environmental assessment and along with it a halt to any significant clean up.
In the summer of 2020 environmental consulting firm ELM was engaged by a group of residents who had raised private funds for an independent assessment of the former GM site. Not having permission to enter the private property the firm could only base its report on observations from the public side of the property; most of that analysis was done from the bike trail at the bottom of the sloped area.
The ELM report noted white particle residue on plants, low plant diversity, limited distribution of plants, bare soil and dead branches on the sides of trees that bordered the sloped areas run off channels. The report concluded that a more detailed follow up study was required to determine what contaminants were responsible for the negative effects observed on the plant life and stressed that whatever the causes were they were likely entering Twelve Mile Creek with “unknown consequences on wildlife and human health”. The report concluded that contaminants may also be migrating to adjacent residential areas via groundwater, surface water, or wind blown dust, and “may represent hazards and risks to adjacent residential neighbourhoods”.
Since the release of the 2010 and 2012 environmental assessments to The Pointer three weeks ago City of St. Catharines officials, who had the documents since at least the beginning of 2020, have not answered questions about the future of the development plan.
Residents are encouraged to continue reaching out to The Pointer about concerns regarding the presence of harmful chemicals and the conduct of local officials including those pushing to redevelop the site for new homes.
Ed Smith is a Local Journalism Initiative Reporter based at The Pointer.
