Niagara Falls, Ministry take action after activists raise concerns over contaminated soil at industrial site

The mounds of soil look like any other old pile of dirt—greyish brown and pockmarked with stubborn weeds and grasses. 

But Mike Cushman is concerned these piles sitting near the Gale Centre in Niagara Falls harbour a dirty secret from an industrial past. 

Cushman is a tireless community activist who has worked diligently to expose environmental risks in Niagara Falls linked to industrial operations, both historic and ongoing. After drawing regional and provincial attention last year for uncovering chemical leaks into the Welland River, as reported by The Pointer, he has now focused his attention on suspicious mounds of soil he believes may be toxic, located on and near the former Cyanamid industrial site in the city.  

Some of the piles of soil can be seen in the foreground of this satellite image, across Thorold Stone Road from the Gale Centre and the vacant property previously home to Cyanamid.

(Google Maps)

Starting in 1907, the corporation produced a number of chemicals for use in a vast array of industries including agriculture, mining, plastics, textiles as well as chemicals required to support the nation’s defence program. In 1984 drums of industrial waste were unearthed on its site resulting in fines for improperly disposing of toxic waste. The industrial operation also dumped toxic waste directly into the Welland River in the late 1980s and into the early 1990s. A study found contaminants in the sediment were impacting aquatic life. The plant closed its doors in Niagara Falls in 1992. 

Cushman is joined by fellow Niagara Falls resident and environmental advocate Gary Wilkins. The two have worked side-by-side since the ‘90s, documenting industrial contamination, tracking development permits and challenging government assurances. Together, they have chronicled a history of questionable soil handling near sensitive areas, often met, they say, with institutional silence.

This time, the two received help from City Councillor Lori Lococo, who took the initiative to organize a rare on-site meeting that brought together the two activists, staff from the City of Niagara Falls and Niagara Region to inspect and discuss the piles of earth near the Gale Centre and adjacent lands. Cushman and Wilkins believe the mounds contain hazardous materials dumped there from past construction and industrial projects, materials now dangerously close to residential neighborhoods and places where children play.

Gary Wilkins (left) and Mike Cushman (second from left) speak to representatives from the City of Niagara Falls and Niagara Region outside the Gale Centre, along with Councillor Lori Lococo, far right.

(Ed Smith/The Pointer)

Cushman praised Lococo for being the only elected official to respond meaningfully to their concerns. 

“What Lori did was honourable,” he said. “No other councillor, regional or city, has done anything like this.” 

“We’ve been inviting the city for a walk for 30 years,” Cushman said. Wilkins echoed that the meeting was long overdue. 

Despite Lococo’s efforts, the pair described the response from City officials as evasive. Staff limited the official site tour to publicly-owned property, avoiding locations the activists see as most critical, like the railway corridor near YMCA housing and the Millick Rink residential project. 

“It was a shell game,” Cushman said. Still, both men acknowledge a small victory when the City committed to fixing fencing to keep children from entering the former Cyanamid property through Palmer Park, as well as along Thorold Stone Road.

“In an activist’s world, a small win is a big one,” Cushman added.

Lococo, who grew up downtown, has long been aware of the community’s unease around the former Cyanamid and Cytec sites. After her election in 2018, she became more involved. When a stacked townhouse development was proposed near the Gale Centre, Cushman and Wilkins were among those who brought detailed environmental concerns to council. Councillor Lococo ultimately voted against the project and successfully pushed for a motion to include the drafting of a Record of Site Condition—a detailed environmental report—on the land title so future buyers would be aware of its industrial legacy.

“Citizen groups are very passionate and often have more information than I do,” she said. When concerns resurfaced around a new development on Fourth Avenue, she proposed the on-site walkthrough. 

“I thought it would be beneficial to have Gary, Mike, City staff, Region staff, and myself attend the property to see what the concerns were.”

Cushman and Wilkins have an impressive track record of environmental oversight. They filmed trucks carrying soil from construction at the Gale Centre and Thorold Stone Road, which they say was moved to private land near the Cyanamid site. They reported spotting tar pitch waste—a known carcinogen—oozing from the ground, and say it was hastily buried after videos surfaced on social media. 

Images from 2021 shared by Mike Cushman showing a black substance leaching from the ground on the former site of the Fourth Avenue YMCA,  where townhouses now stand. The substance was also captured on video.

(Mike Cushman)

“We reported that and they did nothing about it,” Cushman said.  He points out that when he reported the discovery of the oozing tar pitch to the ministry by the time they  responded to the site loads of sand had been dumped and the tar pitch was no longer visible. He says no remediation or clean up was done and houses now stand on the site.

They also allege that soil meant for proper disposal was instead redirected to build up berms along the CN railway corridors—an area that according to them suffers from failed remediation efforts, and soil so contaminated that seeding efforts fail.

Following the on-site meeting, City staff, led by Erik Nickel, General Manager of Municipal Works, shared a summary of responses from the provincial Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP). The ministry confirmed the north-side soil pile near Thorold Stone Road is salt-contaminated, not hazardous to human health, and the pile west of the Gale Centre is crushed concrete. The MECP identified that the issue of failed fencing around the site was an issue for the property owner to rectify and has committed to contacting the owner to request the site be secured. For the fencing around Palmer Park the city accepted its responsibility to inspect the fence and repair it as required.

A regional staffer who declined to identify themself to The Pointer while on site, confirmed piles of previously contaminated soil used to sit on the property, but they were removed and dealt with according to regional policy. 

 Mounds of contaminated soil previously piled in the area around the Gale Centre and the old Cyanamid property. Niagara Region states they have been disposed of properly.

 (Mike Cushman)

On the activists’ claim that contaminated materials were buried at 4263 Fourth Avenue, the old YMCA property, MECP maintained that proper procedures had been followed and a qualified person was involved in the certification and therefore they have no evidence of concern to suggest otherwise.

Responding to the concern that children could access contaminated sites, the ministry said that if any health risk existed, it would require property owners to restrict access, including on City property. 

Most significantly, MECP pushed back on claims that contaminants are migrating into the Niagara River, citing more recent studies that contradict the Proctor and Redfern (P& R) hydrogeological diagram that Cushman and Wilkins use as their reference. The P&R document was part of a report prepared for local tourism businesses that were concerned about toxins escaping the site.  The report leaned heavily on information gleaned from an earlier report prepared in 1992 by Gartner and Lee. 

The Ministry states that multiple additional studies have been completed since the P&R study and they have proven there is no migration of contaminants through the groundwater anywhere, including the Niagara River.

Despite the ministry’s reassurances, both advocates remain deeply skeptical. Cushman argues that visual evidence, long-term observation, and decades of institutional avoidance tell a different story, one of poor stewardship and regulatory apathy. “They do not care anymore. It’s always a shell game,” he said.

Concerns surrounding the former Cyanamid site closely echo those of residents living near the former General Motors facility in nearby St. Catharines. For over a century, the 55-acre GM plant stood as a symbol of industrial might and economic stability, offering secure employment and long-term careers to generations of workers.  However, that era ended abruptly in 2010 when GM shut down the facility. As reported  by The Pointer, the once celebrated site has become a major concern for residents.  

What sets the Cyanamid case apart, however, is the proactive leadership of Councillor Lococo.  Her efforts to bring together citizen watchdogs and municipal staff have initiated steps toward improving safety for residents. This collaborative approach contrasts the situation in St. Catharines, where many residents remain frustrated by what they see as a continued lack of meaningful engagement from local officials and a municipality unwilling to accept responsibility for securing the site and keeping residents safe. 

For Cushman and Wilkins, environmental protection has never been about waiting for government approval. It’s about persistence, documentation and being guided by public health as the top priority.

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