The town has received another update on the remediation of the King’s Navy Yard Park extension lands.
The lands, the former site of Duffy’s Tavern & Motor Inn, are still not able to be opened to the public, but could finally be open for public use in the third quarter of 2025.
Director of parks, facilities and recreation Heidi Baillargeon provided an update in December which indicates the wait will be longer than hoped for those wanting to access the lands. There does appear to be some progress in the long process to remediate the site.
“On November 5, 2024, the Town finally received the Certificate of Property Use (CPU) and the Risk Assessment from the Ministry of the Environment Conservation and Parks (MECP). These are the two documents the Town has been working with the Ministry on since the Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (EA) was approved in 2018,” Baillargeon stated in her report. “The Town filed paperwork with the MECP three times with a 16-week review period mandated between each application and several months required in between applications for revisions to the documents by our consultant, in order to satisfy Ministry requirements. Receiving these documents completes the work and contract with WSP. These two documents govern the development and use of the site with very prescriptive and specific obligations the Town must follow based on findings of various tests, modeling and sampling collected on the property.”
According to Baillargeon’s report, the first and second round of comments received from the MECP outlined the contaminated soils that needed to be addressed. She said the land contains “volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which are a group of pollutants that can contaminate soil and groundwater.”
“The CPU approved by the Ministry issued on November 5, 2024 indicated that if the Town were to erect any buildings on site a vapor barrier and collection system would be needed with reporting and testing required every year for the life of the property unless the Town removed and disposed of these contaminated soils. The design of the park calls for a future washroom/storage building that will also be used to operate the future planned transient marina,” Baillargeon stated. “With this in mind it was in the best interest of the Town to remove the VOC’s from the site completely thereby eliminating costly testing and the need for a vapor barrier collection system estimated to cost approximately $60,000 with annual fees for testing. All the identified VOC’s were removed from the site at the end of the summer 2024 and tests were performed to substantiate and report back to the Ministry, that this work is complete, and the site is now backfilled with suitable clean materials.”
An outstanding condition in the CPU that requires an amendment is the stipulation of a one-metre cap over the entire property to prevent transfer or contact with naturally occurring contaminants. Baillargeon wrote the town would need to spend over $500,000 to satisfy this requirement, should it need to be done.
Amherstburg is working with the ministry on a soil delineation plan which would allow for an amendment to be granted and the process move along quicker and with less costs than having to “cap” the property with additional soils.
“Working with the Ministry, the Town proposed to do a soil delineation plan which instead localizes certain soils on site capping them with a hard surface and or shifting them on site to areas were sufficient cover is present. CT Soils is currently contracted to prepare a plan which is anticipated to be complete by the end of December 2024. Administration is working with our consultants and the Ministry on all of these processes to make sure we have successfully fulfilled our obligations as outlined in the CPU and Risk Assessment,” said Baillargeon. “If the Ministry is satisfied with the Town’s soil delineation plan, remediation efforts and testing results, an amendment will be granted to the CPU at which point administration will issue a tender for Phase 1B involving site grading, installation of subsurface infrastructure, installing basic walkways, retaining walls and landscaping.”
Councillor Linden Crain asked if the fencing could come down and allow access to the grass while further approvals are pending. Baillargeon said they can’t take down the fencing just yet.
“At this time, we do not have the one section of railing complete that ties into the walkway,” said Baillargeon. “The land is very uneven there.”
Until Phase 1B is done and the work complete, it won’t be opened for safety reasons. She said the work is lined up but the soil delineation plan has to be completed and finalized first.
Baillargeon said the soil delineation plan could go faster as they just need an amendment. The tender to complete the railings, servicing, finish walkways and landscaping and then it could be opened.
Councillor Diane Pouget said the process has gone on seven years and said it is “very, very frustrating” for council and taxpayers. She wondered how close they actually are to finish it, calling for reports from the province to come before council.
CAO Valerie Critchley said reports are now public and on the MECP website.
“We actually are quite a lot further ahead than we were in the process,” Critchley stated.
The soil delineation plan is a provincial regulation is being worked on now, and when that is done, the next phase of the tender could go ahead and the site could be opened once the work specified in the tender is complete.
Deputy Mayor Chris Gibb said he read the report and believed it could mean in the third quarter of 2025 that the fences could come down. Baillargeon said she “is so very hopeful” that is the case.
McArthur thanked staff for their work and said he hoped the amendment is accepted by the province. He said it would be costly and time consuming if a metre of land has to be put on as a “cap” on the land. Baillargeon said they are confident in working with the ministry on the matter.
By Ron Giofu
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